Storybrooke: 3 Years Later
by CallMeGeneralAwesome
Summary: It has been three years since the curse has been broken and everyone is moving on with their lives. Belle and Rumple are in for a huge surprise and Ruby is keeping an important secret. Also contains a lot of Emma, Snow/Charming, Regina, Henry, and other characters upon request.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey y'all! I've never written for **_**OUAT**_ **before but I am really into the show and I feel really good about this story. I hope y'all like it too! :)**

**Also, none of this belongs to me; all the characters, places, etc. belong to the amazing minds behind our beloved Once Upon a Time.**

"Thank you for being open today," Emma said as she walked into the library. Henry really wanted some books to read during the storm."

"I know most businesses are closed, but I figured we'd stay open for anyone who wanted comfort or entertainment once the snow comes," Belle said.

"That was nice of you," Emma replied. "Will you be open late?"

"Yeah, I think probably until six or seven."

"The snow is supposed to be pretty bad by then," Emma pointed out. "Do you need a ride home? I have my car."

"No, it's okay, thank you," Belle said. "Rumple will be here soon to hang out for a bit then drive me home when we close."

"Oh, right," Emma replied. "When's the wedding, again?"

Belle grinned. "Next month, on the twelfth. You're coming, right?"

Emma looked surprised. "I don't know. I don't have anyone to cover for me at the station."

"You can keep your phone on you and leave whenever you may need to," Belle said.

Emma smiled a bit. "Okay."

Things had changed a lot in Storybrooke since the curse had been broken three years earlier. Belle's presence made Rumple nice to other people; he actually had friends. He had gotten along well with Charming, since he asked him for romance advice a lot. Charming was actually going to be Rumplestitlskin's best man at his wedding. Charming was elected mayor and Emma was still the sheriff. Snow is principal of the elementary school. Belle is the librarian and she chose Ruby to be her maid of honor. Ruby had been dating Archie for almost two years.

When Belle wasn't at the library or home, she was at Granny's diner. Since she was there pretty often, Belle met – and made friends with – practically everyone in town. Her engaging and kind personality allowed her to get along with everyone, so nearly the whole town was invited to the wedding.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash from the other side of the library.

"Henry!" Emma called out and rushed to where the sound came from.

"Are you alright?" Belle asked as she followed Emma.

"I'm good," Henry said from under a pile of books.

"What happened?" Emma asked as she pulled Henry up.

"I went to get a book off the top shelf and the whole thing fell over," he replied as he rubbed his apparently sore knee.

"Emma, there is a first aid kit under the front desk," Belle began. "It should have bandages and an ice pack."

"Thank you," Emma said.

"Sorry about the shelf," Henry said.

"Don't worry about it," Belle said, ruffling Henry's hair. "It happens. Go get an ice pack, I'll clean this up."

"Thank you," Henry said, then went to join Emma at the desk.

"Mom?" Henry asked when he reached the table. "Did you find the ice pack?"

"What?" Emma asked, quickly putting down a book she had in her hand.

"What book is that?"

"I don't know," Emma replied. "Belle must have been reading it, it was on the desk. Here, take the ice pack. Stay here, I'll go help Belle."

When Emma, with the book from the desk in hand, reached Belle, she had cleaned up all the books and was trying to stand the shelf upright.

"Let me help you with that," she said, stepping in and helping to lift it.

"Thanks," Belle replied.

"So, how do these go back on the shelves, alphabetically by title?" Emma asked, picking up a few books when she saw Belle do the same.

"By author," Belle replied, beginning to restock the shelves.. "And if an author has more than one book, then that goes alphabetically by title."

"There must be a hundred books the kid knocked over," Emma said. "I am so sorry we made such a mess."

"Don't worry about it," Belle replied. "It was a slow day anyway, it is nice to have something to do that doesn't require sitting behind the desk."

"Still, children can be pretty wild," Emma replied, gesturing at the mess of books still on the floor.

"Kids will be kids," Belle replied with a shrug and a smile.

"Do you think you and Mr. Gold will have any?" Emma asked.

Belle didn't say anything.

"Sorry, that might have been too personal," Emma asked. "It's just…I found this on your desk with a whole bunch of bookmarks inside." She held up a copy of _What to Expect When You're Expecting_.

"Did you snoop through my desk?" Belle asked.

"No, not at all," Emma replied. "I just saw it when I was looking for the first aid kit. And I figured, since I'd gone through all this already, if there was anyone you…you know, wanted to talk to. I'm all ears."

"All ears?"

"I'm listening," Emma corrected.

"Thank you," Belle said.

"So you're reading it?" Emma asked.

"Yes," Belle said. She spoke quickly before Emma could say anything. "But not for me. For a friend. She's still kind of getting used to it, so I figured I'd get some information on it while she was still adjusting."

"Okay," Emma said. She carried on putting books away when suddenly a thought hit her. "Oh god, it isn't Mary Margaret, is it?" Emma never really got used to the fact that Mary Margaret was Snow White, so she always called her by her Storybrooke name. Emma also noticed that Mary Margaret, Ruby, and Belle had become close since Emma and Mary Margaret returned from the Enchanted Forest.

Belle chuckled. "No, I am not reading it for Snow."

Emma sighed, content. She figured at some point that Mary Margaret and David would want more kids, but she wasn't quite ready for sisterhood yet.

"Oh my god," Emma said when another thought hit her. "Ruby."

Ruby and Emma became particularly close after Emma returned. Back in Fairytale Land, before Emma was born, Snow decided that if anything happened to her and Charming, she wanted Red to raise Emma. Red was supposed to be like an aunt or a godmother to Emma, and they developed that kind of relationship after the curse was broken.

Belle didn't reply, which Emma understood to mean that she was right and Belle didn't want to say so and betray her trust to Ruby or deny it and lie to Emma.

"Don't worry, I won't tell her I know," Emma said. "Does Archie know?"

"I don't think so," Belle replied. "She only found out yesterday."

Emma looked back at the book, which had bookmarks in it at least halfway through the book.

"You read all that in a day?"

Belle smiled. "I'm a fast reader."

"Wow," Emma said. "Wow."

"I'm guessing you're not this shocked about the speed at which I read…"

"No," Emma said. "I've never stuck around in one place long enough to get close to anyone, let alone a whole town. And now I have a whole bunch of people I really care about and they are living their lives and big things are happening to them. My parents are together, Ruby's pregnant, you're getting married. It is all…a lot."

"I get it," Belle said, putting the books down and putting an arm around Emma's shoulder. "I know what it is like to come into this world and get close to people when all you had for a long time was no one. Trust me, I get it. So, if you ever want to talk, _I'm_ all ears."

Emma smiled. "Thanks, Belle."

"I can finish this up," Belle said. "You two should go home, the storm is going to get bad soon. Don't worry about checking out Henry's books; I know he won't damage them or lose them."

"Okay," Emma said. "Thank you."

Belle nodded goodbye and went back to shelving the books.

At the loft, Snow still slept, though it was nearly noon. She woke, alarmed, to a loud sound from the kitchen.

"Charming?" she called out as she got out or bed and rushed to the kitchen.

"My bad, Snow," Charming replied, picking up pots and pans. "I was going to surprise you with breakfast," he looked at the clock on the wall, "well, _lunch_, but I should have known I can't surprise you or sneak up on you."

Snow smiled and wrapped her arms around Charming's waist. "True, you never were very subtle."

Charming laughed. "So what do you want to do today, Snow?"

Snow made a face. "Don't you have mayor things to do today?"

"Not too many," Charming replied. "I was thinking we could head down to the animal shelter and do some volunteer work."

Snow smiled. "That sounds great. And I was thinking, maybe we could get a cat. Or maybe a few birds. Some fish, even."

"Whoa, slow down, Snow," Charming said with a laugh. "Let's start with one."

Snow laughed. "Okay."

With that, they headed off to the animal shelter.

Emma and Henry walked up to Regina's front door. Henry rang the doorbell.

"You forgot your key again?" Emma asked.

Henry shrugged.

"Kid, you have to remember to bring it," Emma said.

"Hello," Regina said as she opened the door. "How was the library?"

"It was fine," Henry said, walking past Regina and heading up to his room. The relationship between them had improved, but Henry was a thirteen year old boy so he wasn't always in the mood to converse with his mother. Archie had helped Regina to give up magic and she gradually lost her reputation as an evildoer.

"He knocked over a shelf and it landed on him," Emma told Regina. "But he's okay."

"Good," Regina said. "I was just making some coffee, why don't you come in and have some?"

Emma agreed and stayed for coffee, which turned into dinner, which turned into staying the night because the storm was so bad it was dangerous to drive. Emma had never spent so much time at once at Regina's house, but felt weirdly comfortable. Years before, when she first arrived in town, she would have cringed at the thought of sleeping in the same house as Regina, but now it felt to her like a friendly gesture.

"How about this one?" Snow asked Charming, holding up a kitten.

"We can't," Charming said. "His chart says he's been adopted already; the owners are going to pick him up tomorrow."

"Darn it," Snow said.

"This one is cute," Charming replied, petting the orange tabby cat next to him.

"That's Shelby," Snow said. "She already has a home, she's just here for the vet."

"Are all the cats here already taken?" Charming said with a laugh.

"I don't – oh," Snow said, startled, as she felt something touch the back of her leg. She turned and looked down. "Hey cutie!" She picked up the kitten, who was black all over with white paws and face, and held him up to Charming. "Charming, can we keep him?"

Charming chuckled. "Yeah, let's take him."

They signed all the paperwork and that afternoon they took home their new cat.

"Let's call him Stealthy," Snow said. "Since he snuck up on me."

"Wasn't Stealthy one of the -," Charming was cut off.

"Let's just call him Stealthy," Snow said, not wanting to talk about the fallen dwarf who freed her all those years ago.

"Alright then," Charming said. "Stealthy it is."

Ruby walked into the house she shared with Archie, her heart pounding but her expression blank. She was terrified, but she couldn't let it show even a bit because Archie could read her like a book.

"Hey, Ruby," Archie called from the other room as he heard the door close.

"Hey, Archie," Ruby said. Archie walked up to her and helped her take off her coat. He hung it up in the closet. "Thanks."

"No problem," Archie said. "How was work?" He kissed her cheek and wrapped an arm around her and led her down the hallway.

"It was crazy, we were totally slammed today," Ruby replied. "I am exhausted."

"Well, good news for you, I made dinner tonight," Archie said proudly. "It is in the kitchen, hot and ready to be eaten."

Ruby smiled. "Thanks, baby. That was really sweet of you."

"It was my pleasure. Ruby-."

"Archie, we need to talk," Ruby said, cutting off her boyfriend. For a split second, she reached out to take his hand and lead him, but she pulled her hand back and walked towards the chairs at the counter in the kitchen.

The motion with her hand was slight, and the average person probably would not have noticed, but Archie did.

"Ruby, what's wrong?" Archie asked. He sat at the chair next to her, turned to face her, and took her hands in his. "Are you okay?"

Ruby began to cry and let out a sob.

"Ruby," Archie said softly, trying to make his beloved girlfriend feel better but not knowing exactly how.

She let out a loud breath and composed herself. "I'm pregnant."

"What?" Archie said. "Ruby, that's great!"

"No it isn't," Ruby said, pulling her hands from his. "It is not great. This is _bad_."

"Why is it bad?" Archie asked. "Ruby, this is amazing!"

"I'm a wolf, Archie!" Ruby exclaimed. "I've killed people. I'm a monster. And that is genetic. I can't give that to a kid, I can't give my child that curse."

"Ruby, you are not a monster," Archie said. "And our child will not be a monster. Yes, our child will get the wolf gene, but hopefully he or she will also get your selflessness, and your kindness, and your determination. You will give so many amazing parts of yourself to this child and you will be an excellent mother."

Ruby shook her head and stood up.

"Our child will be a monster," Ruby said. "And it will be my fault. I was lucky I had Granny and I had the red hood but what if this kid isn't so lucky? I can't measure up to Granny and I only know of one hood. What, are we supposed to share it?"

"It'll be okay," Archie said, desperately trying to console his girlfriend. "Ruby, please. Calm down. It can't be good for the baby to be this worked up."

"I am so sorry, Archie," Ruby said. "For getting you into this. You deserve better than a wolf for a girlfriend, and you definitely deserve better than this for a child."

"Marry me," Archie said. Ruby looked at him, shocked. "I did this, I made this dinner and tried to make your favorite desert and put rose petals all over our bed because I was going to ask you to marry me tonight."

"Rose petals?"

"Ruby, I want to marry you so badly," Archie said. "Please. I want you, I need you in my life. We should be together, and whatever happens…we'll get through it."

Ruby let out another soft cry. She was silent for a long while before she spoke. "I'm so sorry, Archie," she said. "You should have better. I can't do this to you." She turned and started walking out the door.

"Ruby, no," Archie said. "Please. Don't leave. We can talk about this."

Ruby kept walking.

"Please! Ruby, there's a storm outside, it isn't safe to travel!" Archie called, following her to the door. He stepped in front of her, putting himself between her and the door. "Ruby."

Ruby purposefully avoided his gaze.

"Archie, move," she said. "I need to leave."

"You don't," Archie said. "And you don't really want to, because if you did you wouldn't have let me stop you."

"How would I have stopped you?" Ruby asked halfheartedly. "You're standing between me and the door. I'm pregnant, I can't exactly tackle you to the ground to get you out of the way."

"You're pregnant," Archie said with a smile.

"And you want to marry me," Ruby said. She almost smiled, but stopped herself. "But the wolf thing."

"It is okay," Archie said. "I've known you're a wolf for a while, I'm fine with it. You have it under control."

"Our child will be a wolf," Ruby said, not looking Archie in the eye again. "I'm sorry, I just need some space."

"Then you stay here," Archie said. "Please. There is a storm outside and I'd rather I travel in it than you do. Especially now."

Ruby nodded. "Okay."

"I won't go to Granny's, because if I stay there she'll know something is going on," Archie said. "You should tell her about all this when you are ready to. I'll stay at my office, I have a couch."

Ruby took a step back so Archie could open the door.

"Please call me when you're ready," Archie said. "When you're ready to talk about this, we'll talk about this."

Ruby nodded, though inside she was reluctant to do so because she still wasn't sure if she wanted to put Archie through the ordeal of having a wolf wife and a wolf child.

"And, before I go, please take this," Archie said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a jewelry box. He opened it, revealing a diamond ring. He handed the box to her. "I want to marry you, Ruby. I want us to be a family, you me and the baby. Please." He leaned in and kissed her forehead. Then, he turned and left.

Ruby turned, so her back was to the door. She leaned against the door and slid to the ground, finally letting herself cry as hard as she wanted to since she found out she was pregnant the previous morning.

_This is what I wanted_, she thought to herself. _This is what I deserve._

"Are you ready to leave, dearie?" Rumple asked.

"Yeah," Belle said, putting a few books in her bag. "Let's go."

She and Rumple left and walked to Rumple's car.

"My goodness, it is snowing hard out here," Belle said. The snow was falling in sheets, obscuring vision farther than a few inches in front of the eyes.

"It is," Rumple said as they got into the car. "Maybe you shouldn't go into work tomorrow. The snow is already up to a few inches, it'll get even deeper overnight. No one will be at the library."

"Rumple, I have to," Belle said with a light laugh. "The library can't close just because of bad weather."

"Bad weather?" Rumple said, carefully pulling out of the parking spot and driving away. "This is the worst blizzard I've ever seen."

"I'll be fine tomorrow at work," Belle said. "Unless, you have other plans for what we could do tomorrow, cooped up in the house together…"

Rumple laughed. "I'm sure I could think of something."

"Rumple, do you want children?" Belle asked. "I know you have Bae and that you're still trying to find him, but do you want more children? With me?"

Rumple gave her a sideways glance. "Where is this coming from?"

Belle shrugged. "It is just something someone said today got me wondering."

"Do you want children?" Rumple asked.

Belle sighed. "I think so," she said excitedly. "Not right now, of course, but sometime. Maybe soon. I just imagine a kid with eyes like yours, or with your sense of humor, running around our house and calling me 'mum'. I think I want that."

"Then that's what we'll do," Rumple said slowly. "I want what you want, Belle. And if this is what you want, this is what we'll do. After the wedding."

"Right, after the wedding," Belle said. "And we don't have to rush. I'm still young, we have time. We can still look for Bae."

"I'd like that," Rumple said.

"Good," Belle said.

Rumple turned to smile at her, but when he looked back at the road he saw someone standing in fron of the car.

"Rumple!" Belle yelled, seeing the boy in the line of the car. If Rumple didn't get out of the way quickly, he would hit the boy.

Rumple swiftly swerved the car to the right. He momentarily forgot about the slick, snow-covered roads and turned so hard that the ice carried him to the side of the road. The car crashed into a tree, with the passenger side – and Belle – essentially squished between the driver's side door and the tree.

"Belle," Rumple said weakly. He had hit his head in the crash and noticed he was bleeding from his forehead, but he was absolutely more concerned with his fiancé. "Belle," he repeated, weakly trying to reach for her.

She wasn't moving and her head was bleeding profusely.

"Oh my god!" came a voice from outside the car. It was the boy was standing in the road. "I didn't see you! It's so dark…there's so much snow…I thought I was walking on the sidewalk, not the road! Are you okay?"

Rumple climbed out of the car. "You!" he bellowed. "You were in the way! You hurt her!"

"Help!" the boy screamed desperately, hoping someone nearby would hear. "Help us! Please, somebody!"

Rumple scrambled to take his phone out of his pocket and dialed 911. He told them their location and demanded they hurry. Rumple had changed a lot in the past three years, but he could still revert to his old attitude when the things he loved most were threatened.

"Are they coming? Is help coming?" asked the boy, who Rumple could still not see because the snow was falling so thickly.

"They should be," Rumple said. "What the hell were you doing out here?!" Rumple stepped closer to the boy, grabbing him by the collar.

"I…"

Rumple saw the boy's face clearly for the first time. He let go of the boy immediately. "Bae," he said. "It's you."

**So what'd y'all think? I hope you all liked it, I tried to bring up a lot of suspense and drama but still a lot of softer moments that we all love from the show. Please review and let me know what you think!**

**Also, if you have any ideas or suggestions, please let me know! Especially if there is anything in particular you want for Snow/Charming, because I don't have too much planned for them and I am open to any and all suggestions of storylines for them. So, please review this and tell me what you think! **


	2. Chapter 2 What We All Deserve

**Ahoy! I am glad some of y'all liked the first chapter! Thank you so much for reading!**

**Now on with the next chapter. This will pick up where the last chapter left off, specifically with the Rumple/Belle/Bae drama. So I really hope y'all enjoy it! And please leave a review!**

**Also I've decided to start naming chapters. So, I hope y'all like that.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own any of this. **

Chapter 2 What We All Deserve

"Papa?" Bae asked surprised. "Papa! Is this really you?"

"Bae," Rumple said in shock as he pulled his son in close for a hug. He felt tears sting his eyes. "Oh, Bae. I missed you."

They separated as the wailing of ambulance sirens grew closer. The ambulance came and one paramedic rushed to Rumple, while one other went to Belle in the car.

"Sir, are you okay?" the paramedic asked Rumple. "You're bleeding."

"I'm fine!" Rumple yelled. "Help her! Save Belle!"

Rumple rushed back to the car and the paramedic followed.

"Are there any medical conditions we should know about?" the other paramedic asked Rumple as he tried to get Belle safely out of the car.

"No, none at all," Rumple said. "Help her!"

"Sir, you need to back off so we have space to help her," the paramedic said. He called for backup into his radio and turned to the other paramedic. "She's unconscious. We need to stop the bleeding in her head, get her out of the car, and get her to the hospital as soon as we can."

Rumple took a step closer, wanting to hold Belle or get her out, anything to be with her then.

"Sir, you really need to give us space," the paramedic said. "Please. Another ambulance will be here soon to help you with your wound."

"Papa," Bae said, wrapping his arms around his father's shoulders and leading him a few feet away. "Back up. They'll help her, she'll be okay."

Rumple turned towards Bae and wrapped him in a tight hug. The despair and desperation for Belle and the overwhelming joy of seeing of seeing Bae again was too much for Rumple. He sobbed into his son's shoulder.

**-OUAT-**

Ruby woke up on the floor, still slumped against the door. For a moment she was confused, but suddenly all the memories of last night rushed back in.

"Oh god," she muttered. She got up and rubbed her back, which was sore from the awkward position she slept in. "Sleeping here was not a good idea," she said to herself.

She cautiously walked around the house, as if she thought this was all a bad dream and some terrible monster would jump out at her.

_This _is_ a bad dream_, she thought. _But _I'm_ the monster._

She walked past the kitchen and saw all the food Archie prepared for her the night before. It was all out on the counter, but last night she was too preoccupied to notice it. She knew in her mind that she should eat something, considering she didn't eat dinner the night before, but she didn't feel hungry. She felt numb, with brief spurts of self-hate that would peek through now and then.

She walked up the stairs but stopped at the top when she saw the rose petals. They were a deep red, like the color so often associated with Ruby. She felt as if she would cry, but knew she had no tears left. She followed the rose petals to the bedroom and hesitated before opening the door. She knew that inside would be more rose petals, possible even candles and other flowers, too.

She opened the door and stepped inside. There were rose petals in various shades of red spelling out "Will you marry me?" on the bed, with a trail of white rose petals leading to the bed. There were white candles on the furniture and on Archie's dresser was a record player that had Ruby's favorite song loaded in, ready to play. Ruby reached over and touched the record, as if she were about to play it, but then pulled her hand back. She ran her hand through her hair and backed out of the room.

She went back to the front of the house and pulled her phone out of her bag, which was in the same place where she left it the night before.

"Granny, hi," she said after dialing the familiar number. "I can't some in to work today, I'm sick."

"Are you alright?" Granny asked. "You haven't missed a shift in…I don't even know how long."

"Granny, I just…I just can't come in today," Ruby said.

"Ruby," Granny said sternly, knowing something was up.

"Please," Ruby pleaded. She was in no shape to work that day and she knew so. She just wanted life to stop for a bit so she could wrap her head around everything.

"Are you alright?" Granny asked. "Did Archie hurt you? Do I need to get my crossbow?"

"Granny, of course not," Ruby said. "He didn't do anything wrong. I just can't work today."

"Fine," Granny said. "Call me later today and let me know if you are doing any better."

"I will," Ruby said. "Thank you."

They said their goodbyes and hung up.

Ruby took another look around and realized she could not stay in the house that day. There was too much there, too much she wasn't ready to deal with.

She remembered the person she had grown to turn to when she needed someone to lean on. Ruby prided herself on being independent and strong, but sometimes when she couldn't handle something herself and wasn't ready to approach Granny with it, she turned to one person. She turned to Snow.

Picking up her bag, she turned to leave. She almost made it out the door before stopping herself.

It dawned on her that Archie might show up at the house for her, so she decided to write a note.

"Still not ready to talk. I'm sorry," she wrote. "I'm with Snow, I'm safe. –Ruby"

She left the note on table by the door, where she new Archie would see it, and left to go to her best friend's house.

**-OUAT-**

"Thanks for letting me stay the night," Emma said to Regina the next morning.

"Not a problem," Regina said. "You know you're welcome here anytime."

"I'm glad we are friends," Emma said.

Regina's head snapped toward Emma at the word "friends". "We're friends?" she asked.

Emma nodded. "Of course we are. It sounds a lot better than 'co-parents'."

Regina chuckled. "I suppose so."

"You know," Emma again. "If you and I could make amends, you could probably do the same with Mary Margaret."

"Do you really think so?"

"Yeah." Emma shrugged. "The town is mostly over the whole curse thing. People have accepted that we're here and we don't know a way out. Since the curse broke, people have been able to find their happy endings here. So while they miss their home, they've adopted this as a second home."

"But it was about more than just the curse with Snow," Regina said. "I hated her."

"But you don't anymore," Emma pointed out. "And she doesn't hate you. She never did. She just never understood why you did what you did."

"So what, we should just talk it out?" Regina scoffed.

"Maybe!" Emma said. "I've seen weirder things in my time."

Regina still didn't look convinced.

"Look, just think about it, okay?" Emma said. "She's Henry's grandmother and she is in his life. You two should try to be more than just civil to each other. If you and I can be friends, you and Mary Margaret can be friends too."

"If I found a way back home, do you think she'd forgive me then?" Regina asked.

Emma shrugged. "I don't know. I don't have the connection with that place like all of you do. I was born there and I was trapped there a couple years ago, but it was never home to me."

Regina nodded, considering this.

"Just try to talk to her, please?" Emma asked. "For Henry."

"Okay," Regina agreed. "For Henry."

"Thank you," Emma said. With that, she turned and left to go to the station for work.

Once Emma was gone and Henry was still upstairs reading his books, Regina headed down to the basement.

Carefully she opened up a series of locks on two doors, then entered a windowless room with only one thing inside: a large black top hat.

She reached into her pocket and took out a smooth stone. She dropped it into the hat.

Regina waited for the stone to be returned through the hat, but it wasn't. She sighed and went back upstairs to make breakfast for Henry.

**-OUAT-**

"How is she?" Bae asked his father, handing him a cup of tea.

"Thank you," Rumple said, taking the warm cup. "She's still in surgery."

"I'm sorry, Papa," Bae said. "You love her."

"I do," Rumple replied. "Very much."

"Who is she?"

"Her name is Belle," Rumple replied. "Her father was King Maurice. I made a deal with him, I'd use magic to save his kingdom and he gave me her. He refused, but she…she forced them to let her come. She told them her life was hers, and she would make her own choices. So she came to work for me, cleaning up the castle and preparing my meals and whatnot. Somehow she managed to love a beast like me, but I pushed her away. When Regina cast the curse, she kept Belle…she locked her up. But…but she got free and found me. That was three years ago. We're supposed to be married next month."

"She'll be okay, Papa," Bae said. "It will be okay."

"Thank you, Bae," Rumple said.

"What is this curse, though?" Bae asked.

"Not too long after you left, Regina cast a curse that brought all of us back home here," Rumple explained. "We were here for twenty-eight years before the savior broke the curse three years ago."

Bae was quiet for a moment. "You've been here for thirty-one years?"

Rumple nodded. "Thirty-one years, yes."

"You don't look thirty-one years older."

"No one aged for the twenty-eight years of the curse," Rumple said.

"That's odd," Bae said. "I don't think I've aged that much either."

Rumple looked Bae up and down. "You haven't. I didn't notice before. That's…that's unusual."

"The world I went to, no one aged their either," Bae said. "None of my friends there aged."

Rumple smiled softly. "You had friends there."

Bae nodded. "They were like my brothers. They didn't call me by my name, though. We gave ourselves new names."

"Were there any adults?" Rumple asked. "Anyone to take care of you?"

"There was one," Bae said. "But we avoided him; we took care of each other. We were a family."

"Bae…" Rumple said. "I am so sorry. I am sorry I was such a…such a coward. I never stopped trying to find you, I swear."

"I know," Bae said. "But I think you would have liked the place I went to, Papa. There were fairies who could make you fly. We called the place -."

"Mr. Gold," a doctor said, coming down the hallway towards them and cutting off what Bae was going to say.

Rumple quickly stood up to speak with the doctor, and Bae did the same.

"What happened?" Rumple asked. "How did the surgery go?"

"Belle is…stable," the doctor said. "We stopped the internal bleeding. But she is in a coma."

Bae inhaled sharply.

"Well, when will she wake up?" Rumple asked.

"We're not sure."

"You're not sure?" Rumple asked, growing increasingly angry.

"Papa," Bae said, trying to calm his father.

"She could wake in a few hours, a few days, we don't know," the doctor said.

"Where is she?" Rumple asked.

"I'll bring you to her," the surgeon said. "But only one of you is allowed in at a time."

"Go, Papa," Bae said. "I'll go back to the inn I'm staying at."

"How long have you been in this world for?" Rumple asked.

"Only a night," Bae replied. "I'll see you tomorrow, or later today. Go to Belle, she needs you."

"Thank you, Bae," Rumple said. "I love you, son."

Bae hugged his father then left as the surgeon led Rumple to Belle.

Bae was walking out the doors of the hospital when he heard a voice.

"Isn't it a little cold here for you?" said the male voice. Bae turned to face the direction where the voice came from. "What, are you lost, boy?"

Bae clenched his jaw as he saw the person speaking. "Hook."

Hook stepped forward, as if presenting himself to Bae. "Yes, boy. I'm here, too. It seems that when you left Neverland, I came too. Something tied us to the place."

Bae simply gave him a cold stare.

"You do look just like your father when you make that face," Hook said.

Bae still held a icy glare on Hook.

"I don't believe it is you tying to this place," Hook continued. "I believe I know someone from this world, someone who left me in a bad way with a giant. I'm here for her."

"And I'm here for my father," Bae said. "So let's stay out of each other's ways."

"That's a splendid idea," Hook said. "I'd shake your hand, but…"

Bae didn't reply to Hook's sly humor.

"Well then," Hook said. He turned to walk away. "Until next time, Peter Pan," he called over his shoulder.

**-OUAT-**

Snow opened the door, surprised to see her best friend standing there.

"Red," Snow said. "Hi. I didn't know you were coming."

"Sorry I didn't call," Ruby said. She walked through the door and inhaled, then made a face. "Did you get a cat?"

"We adopted one yesterday," Snow said. "Red, did you walk here? It is freezing outside!"

"I've got a coat on and the roads are mostly cleared already, so it wasn't too bad," Red said. "That cat smell is really strong."

"Really?" Charming asked, walking into the room. "I haven't noticed."

Snow shot him a look.

"Right, the super-smell thing…" he said.

"Excuse me," Ruby said, rushing to the bathroom.

Snow and Charming exchanged a glance, confused, then they heard the sound of Ruby vomiting.

"Was it the cat?" Charming asked.

"I have no idea," Snow said. "Maybe you should take him out, though. I'll go check on Red."

"Okay," Charming said. "I'll be at the office." He looked down to Stealthy. "I guess you're coming with, buddy."

Snow quickly filled a glass with water and went to the bathroom to check on her friend.

"Here, drink this," she said, handing Ruby the glass.

Ruby took a sip. "Thank you."

"What's wrong?" Snow asked. "Are you sick?"

"Not exactly," Ruby said.

"Then what…" Snow let her sentence trail off as a thought occurred to her. "Apples," she said simply.

Ruby looked up at her and laughed a bit. "What about them?"

"I never really liked apples, especially since Regina tried to kill me with one," Snow said. "But I could handle the smell of them fine. But when I was pregnant with Emma, the very smell of them would make me puke. And I've seen you with cats before; you don't particularly like them but you've never thrown up on one, either."

Snow paused, collecting her thoughts.

"Red, did you come over to tell me that you're going to have a -."

"Don't!" Ruby exclaimed. "Don't say the b-word. Please."

"Okay," Snow said slowly. "Well you've told Archie, right?"

Ruby nodded.

"What did he say?"

"That he wants to marry me," Ruby replied.

Snow's eyes widened in surprise at that. "Did you say yes?"

"I kicked him out," Ruby replied. "Kind of, anyway. I wanted to leave, but he left instead. He didn't want me traveling in the storm."

"Well that part makes sense," Snow said. "It snowed like crazy last night. But why did you want to leave?"

"Because I can't handle all this," Ruby said. "This wasn't supposed to happen, not this fast, not like this. Maybe not at all."

"You don't want to marry Archie?" Snow asked. "Red, just the other day we spoke about this and you said you wanted to be with Archie together. What changed?"

Ruby shrugged. "I guess I came to my senses…?"

"Red, you love Archie," Snow said. "He is the father of your baby."

"Don't use the b-word!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Why not?!" Snow asked.

"Because that isn't what it is!" Ruby cried. "It isn't a baby, because I'm a wolf. It's a…puppy."

"Red, listen to me," Snow said. "You're a human, okay? A good one, at that. You are a great person. And you also happen to be a wolf, okay? But you are still a great person."

Ruby shook her head. "I'm a monster, Snow. I've _killed_ _people_."

"You are not a monster," Snow said. Ruby still didn't look at her. "Hey, look at me. Red."

Ruby reluctantly looked up as Snow took her face in her hands.

"Red, you are not a monster," Snow said. "You made some mistakes-"

"Mistakes?" Ruby exclaimed, scoffing. "A mistake knocking over a glass at the dinner or adding up a bill wrong. Killing a person isn't a mistake. It is a choice, and it is a choice I made."

"But it wasn't you," Snow pointed out. "It was the wolf, and you couldn't control it then. You can now, you have the hood."

"I have one hood."

"Then we'll find another for the baby."

Ruby gave Snow a look.

"Come on, Red," Snow said. "This is happening, and you have to accept it. Be honest, if you take the wolf thing out of the equation, how would you feel about this?"

"I can't just take the 'wolf thing' out of the equation," Ruby said. "It is part of me."

"But you have the hood, so you don't even turn anymore at wolfstime," Snow pointed out.

Ruby sighed. "I'd be happy. Ecstatic, even. I'd be bouncing off the walls because I'd be so happy. If I weren't a wolf, this would be exactly what I want. A man who loves me and our family."

"So this is what you want," Snow said.

"Yeah, it is," Ruby admitted.

"So, forget about everything else and be happy!" Snow said.

"But-."

"No buts," Snow said. "Red, this is what you want. The rest of it, all the complications, they don't matter right now. And when they come up, I know you and Archie can handle them."

"Archie doesn't deserve this, though," Ruby said. "He deserves better than a monster, than a wolf. Two wolves, now."

"Archie knows exactly what he signed up for, and he still loves you," Snow said. "And you are not a monster. When will you stop hating yourself for being a wolf?"

Ruby stared at Snow, surprised that she was so blunt.

"It isn't a choice, and you can't completely control what you do in wolf-form, but you've handled it pretty damn well," Snow said. "Things only got out of hand when you didn't know you were a wolf, but now you do and you've tried everything you possibly could to protect the people around you. You haven't hurt anyone since you've known. So stop hating yourself over what you've done, Red. You can't change it but you can make things better. You already have. You can help your child through being a wolf like someone should have helped you. You can learn from the mistakes of your past. And yes, they were mistakes."

"What if I'm bad at this?" Ruby asked.

"You won't be," Snow said. "Trust me, I understand. The fear you feel about not being any good at this, the worry that you'll mess up. It isn't rational. I've been there, remember?"

Ruby nodded. "Yeah."

"Being a wolf doesn't mean you don't deserve to be happy or that you're a bad person," Snow said. "You deserve the life you want, and now you have it. Be happy and don't let the fear take over."

Ruby nodded, starting to come around and get comfortable with everything that was going on.

"And say yes to Archie."

Ruby laughed and nodded. "I will."

"Come here," Snow said, pulling her friend in for a hug. "I know it is scary. But it will all be okay."

"It is really scary," Ruby said.

"You're welcome to stay here for the day if you want," Snow said. "Not here, as in my bathroom specifically, here as in my place."

"No offense, Snow, but this place reeks of cat," Ruby said.

Snow made a face. "Sorry."

Ruby laughed. "It's fine," she said. "But if I stay here I will throw up again. Why did you decide to adopt a cat?"

Snow shrugged. "I love animals."

"Clearly, if you keep me around."

Snow shot her a stern look.

"That was a joke," Ruby explained, getting up.

"It wasn't very funny," Snow said. "Seriously, being a wolf doesn't define you. You're more than just that, okay?"

"Okay," Ruby said.

"Come on," Snow said. "The weather is still bad. I'll spray some air freshener and you can stay here. We can have a girls' day, just us."

Ruby smiled. "That sounds good."

**-OUAT-**

"Listen, Belle, I don't know if you can hear me," Rumple began. He was sitting in a chair next to Belle's bed at the hospital, holding her hand. "But I need you to wake up. I am so sorry this happened, Belle. It should have been me who got hurt, not you. I could have driven more carefully or something, I don't know. You shouldn't be in here."

Rumple was silent for a few moments. The only noise in the room was the beeping of the machines monitoring Belle's vital signs.

"Bae is here," Rumple said. "I don't know how he got here but he is. I want you to meet him and I want him to meet you. You'll love him, he's great. He hasn't aged since I've last seen him. It is like he hasn't grown up. I don't know, maybe since he's from where we're from, he was still affected by the curse even though he wasn't actually there when Regina cast the curse. But he's here and we can be a family. You, me, and him. Once you wake up and we get married."

He looked down at her hand and started toying with the ring on her finger.

"Did I ever tell you the story of how I picked this ring?" Rumple asked. "You look so good in blue, Belle. So I decided I should propose with a ring with a blue stone. You know, that pale blue you wore often when you stayed at the castle. I searched everywhere for a rock that color but no jeweler in town sold the right one. So I went to the Blue Fairy and asked her for help. I know I gave up using magic, but this was important so I made an exception with the fairy. She used magic to locate the place in town where I could find blue stone. Then I spent all day digging to get a good enough size rock so a ring could be made out of it. Once I found the right sized rock, I brought it to the jeweler and he made the ring."

Rumple sighed. "I don't know if I ever told you about that. I wish I had."

**-OUAT-**

Emma got out of her car, exhausted after a long day at work. She still lived with Charming and Snow, so she walked up the way to the door to the building. Before she reached the door, though, she saw a figure move in the shadows.

"Who's there?" Emma demanded, pulling out her gun and pointing it into the darkness.

"Put the gun down," the voice said.

Emma recognized the voice instantly. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

The man came out of the shadows and stood under the street light. The light obscured some of his face from view, but Emma could still see the black hair she used to be so fond of.

"I came for you," the man said. "I came back for you. You think I could really leave you alone?"

Emma shook her head. "It's been…years. It has been years since you've seen me. Why now?"

"I was only able to get into town now," the man said. "But trust me, if I could have come here earlier, I would have."

"You can't be here," Emma said. "My family is here. Henry is here."

"Who's Henry?" the man asked. Emma could hear jealousy in his voice; he had assumed Henry was a boyfriend or something.

"He's my son," Emma said sternly.

"You have a son?" the man asked.

Emma nodded.

"How old is he?" the man asked.

Emma didn't respond.

"Emma!" the man demanded, desperation in his voice. "How old is your son?"

"Thirteen," Emma said quietly.

"You have a thirteen year old son," the man said. "Is he…"

"Yes, Neal," Emma said. "He's yours."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Neal demanded. "I had a right to know!"

"Did you?" Emma asked. "Because you set me up! You got me put in jail! Nothing about that screams father of the year!"

"I did what was best for you!" Neal said. "I had to do what I did! The truth was that what I did led to what was best for you. You had to break the curse!"

"You know about the curse?"

Neal nodded. "Your guardian angel friend convinced me it was real. He made me see that you needed to go through what you went through." He sighed. "He never mentioned a kid, though."

"You abandoned me," Emma said. "And eventually I got over it. But you abandoned Henry, too. How do I explain this to him? How do I explain you being here? I told him you were dead."

"You told him I was dead?"

"What was I supposed to do?" Emma demanded. "Tell him his father was a thief who got me sent to prison? Tell him that his father didn't want either of us?"

"I never knew about him," Neal said. "You never told me!"

"Because I didn't know until I went to prison," Emma said. "And by then you were long gone. You didn't want me anymore, so I figured you didn't want him. That was your choice."

"That I made for you!"

"You need to go," Emma said. "We can't talk about this right now. Meet me for coffee tomorrow at my office at the police station."

"You're a cop?" Neal asked in a joking tone.

"I'm the sheriff," Emma said, clearly not in a joking mood. "We'll talk about this. Until then, stay the hell away from here and my family."

"Okay," Neal agreed sullenly.

Emma turned to walk into the building, but turned again before she was inside.

"There's an inn up the road," Emma said. "Granny's. You can stay there. Tell Granny you're here with me and she'll get you a room."

"Thank you," Neal said. He watched Emma to make sure she got inside, then left.

Emma went to the apartment. She was surprised to see Snow standing near the door, concerned, and Ruby asleep on the couch.

"Mary Margaret," Emma said. "I didn't think you'd be home."

"Are you alright?" Snow asked. "I heard yelling."

"I'm fine," Emma said. She gestured to Ruby. "Is she okay?"

Snow nodded. "She's had a rough couple of days. We were having a girls' day and she fell asleep. She'll be alright, though."

"Good," Emma said.

"Emma, who were you fighting with?"

"Henry's father is here," she answered.

**So what do y'all think? A few old faces have just arrived in Storybrooke, how do y'all think that'll play out? Are there any other people you want to show up? Did anything surprise you in this chapter? Please! leave a review!**


	3. Chapter 3 Things Seen and Unseen

**Hola chicos! So this is the next chapter. But before that I do have a question for y'all:**

****Would you guys be interested in flashback scenes?** I don't have any in this chapter, but I figured since this story is set like 3 years after the current season that is airing, flashbacks might fill the gaps better than straight up narration. So please! leave a review and let me know if you'd like to see flashbacks or not.**

**Cool. Anyway.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this.**

Chapter 3 Things Seen and Unseen

Ruby went home late that night. She had fallen asleep on Snow's couch and lost track of time; by the time she woke up it was already well into the evening.

"Snow!" Ruby said when she woke up and saw what time it is. "Why did you let me sleep for so long?"

"Relax, Red," Snow said, walking into the room with two mugs of tea. She handed one to Red. "You looked exhausted earlier today. You've had a stressful few days, you needed the sleep. Something told me you didn't sleep much at your place."

"I didn't, at least not very well," Ruby admitted. She sat up and drank some tea. "Your couch is really comfortable."

"Thanks," Snow said. "Just a heads up, Charming will be home soon and he has the cat so…"

"Right," Ruby said, standing up. "I'm not really in the mood to throw up again, so I'm going to go."

"I can drive you," Snow said.

"Thank you," Ruby said.

"Look, Red," Snow began. "I know this is scary. And I obviously was not in the same situation with Emma as you are in now, so I can't even begin to imagine what this is like with…"

"The wolf thing," Ruby supplied.

"Yeah," Snow said. "I know you must be terrified, though, but I just want you to know that if you ever need to talk, I'm here for you."

Ruby smiled. "Thank you, Snow," she said. "My family has shifted and changed over the years as people have come and gone, and now it is growing. But you were always a constant in my family, and you always will be. You're like a sister to me, or sometimes even a mother figure if I need it."

"Well, now it's your turn to be the mother figure, right?"

"Yeah," Ruby said, smiling. "Snow, thank you. For today, I mean."

"Family takes care of family," Snow said, grinning.

Ruby nodded, still smiling. "Hey, do you think you could drop me off at Archie's office instead of at home? It is about time I talk to him."

**-OUAT-**

Rumple was sitting uncomfortably in a hard plastic chair in Belle's hospital room. He had Belle's hand in his and was just staring blankly, wanting Belle to wake up.

Without saying anything, he lowered his head to Belle's side. He wanted to feel close to her and he wanted to feel her on him. He missed her holding his hand and he missed her voice.

He sighed, hating the situation he was in.

"I hope you're not sighing because I'm boring you," Belle asked.

Rumple's head snapped up. "Belle?" he asked, not really believing what was happening.

Belle smiled. "Rumple."

"Oh, Belle," Rumple said, getting up and hugging her as best he could.

"Ah, careful, Rum," Belle said. "I was just in a car accident."

Rumple's face fell immediately. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"Rumple, it is fine," Belle said. "We're both okay now."

Rumple smiled. "You're okay."

Belle nodded. "What about that boy on the road?" she asked, concerned. "Is he alright?"

Rumple smiled. "He's fine. He's, ah, actually my son. Bae."

Belle's eyes widened. "Bae?" she asked. "Bae is here?"

Rumple nodded. "Yes, he is. And I want you to meet him," he continued. "And he can be here for our wedding. He can be part of our family."

Belle smiled widely. "I would like that very much."

"You can have anything you'd like, Belle," Rumple said. He leaned in and kissed her forehead.

Immediately after Rumple's lips made contact with Belle's forehead, her skin started to turn a sickly gold color.

"Rumple," Belle said, terrified. "Rumple, what is happening?"

"No," Rumple said. "No, this can't happen, not to you."

"Rumple!" Belle yelled as her whole body turned that golden hue. Her hair turned stringy and curled. "What is happening?"

"No!" Rumple yelled. "No!"

"Mr. Gold," a voice called. "Mr. Gold!"

Rumple woke up with a start, still sitting uncomfortably in the plastic chair. "What?" he asked, looking around, shocked and confused.

"Mr. Gold, you were screaming in your sleep," said the nurse in Belle's room.

Rumple looked around. Belle was still in her bed, looking just like her usual self.

"Belle," Rumple asked. "She's okay?"

"She's still stable," the nurse replied. "There haven't been any changes."

"Good," Rumple sighed. "Oh, good."

"Mr. Gold, maybe you should go home and get some sleep," the nurse suggested. "You've barely left this room in two days."

"I won't leave her here."

"She's safe here," the nurse said.

"She is terrified of hospitals," Rumple said. "So she isn't safe here. I will be here when she wakes up."

"If you insist," the nurse said. "Let me see if I can find some spare blankets or pillows, to make you more comfortable."

"Thank you," Rumple said.

**-OUAT-**

Ruby stood nervously outside the door to Archie's office. She was nervous to knock. Now that she had a grip on what was happening in her life, she felt embarrassed by her behavior. She was a little nervous to face that with Archie.

So she stood there, staring at the door, trying to work up the nerve to knock.

"Ruby?" came a voice from behind her.

Ruby turned. "Archie." She smiled widely.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked. "It is freezing!"

"I was just about to knock and see if you were here," Ruby said. "Which you are now."

"Yeah," Archie replied. He held up his car keys. "I was just at the house. I went there earlier, too, to see if you were gone during your shift. I saw your note and I just went back now to see if you were back yet. Then I came back here because I forgot my phone here and I wanted to have it in case you called."

Ruby pulled Archie in for a warm hug. "I'm sorry, Archie."

Archie looked at her, unsure of whether this was an apology for how she reacted or an apology for something she might have been about to do.

"I shouldn't have left," Ruby said.

Internally, Archie gave a sigh of relief. He thought she might have been apologizing before she left again, but this was a good thing.

"Ruby, it's okay," Archie said. "Come inside, we'll talk." He opened the door and went inside; Ruby followed.

Once inside, Ruby wrapped her arms around Archie and gave him a kiss.

After a few moments, Archie pulled back and chuckled. "What was that for?"

Ruby smiled. "I love you," she said. "I love us. I love that you put up with my craziness and that you are the greatest man I've ever known. And you'll be the greatest father." She reached into her bag and pulled out the ring box. She took out the ring and put it on.

Archie's smile grew even wider.

"Yes, Archie Hopper," Ruby said. "Otherwise known as Jiminy Cricket. I will marry you, because I love you and I love our family."

Archie put a hand on Ruby's stomach, which was still flat. "Our family."

Ruby grinned and kissed Archie again.

"I'm glad you're so happy, because tomorrow we tell Granny," Ruby said.

Archie's expression morphed into one of fear. "Does she still have the crossbow?"

Ruby smirked. "Oh yeah," she said. "And I don't know too much about this whole thing, so Belle did some research for me-."

"Belle knows?" Archie asked.

"Yeah," Ruby said. "Sorry. But when I first found out I was freaking out and when I saw her later she noticed so I told her and she offered to help find some information to calm me down."

"Okay," Archie said. "So we can go get that tomorrow."

Ruby grinned slyly. "I don't have work tomorrow, so we can do a lot of things tomorrow."

Archie blushed. "Ruby."

"Archie, if I have learned anything over the past few days it is that I love you so much," Ruby said. "That I don't want to waste any time I have with you."

She leaned in and kissed him again.

"I love you," Archie said.

Ruby leaned into Archie and nestled her head on his shoulder. "I love you, too."

**-OUAT-**

Emma locked her car and made her way to the entrance of the police station.

"Nice car," came that familiar voice from the shadows along the wall.

"Jesus Christ," Emma exclaimed. "You have got to stop doing that."

"Isn't me surprising you our thing?" Neal asked.

Emma rolled her eyes. "No," she said, not meaning it but not wanting to give Neal the satisfaction of the truth.

"Sorry," he said. He held out his hand, revealing a tray with three cups on it. "You said meet for coffee, so I got us coffee. But I remembered you also liked hot chocolate with cinnamon, so I got you one of those too."

"Thanks," Emma said. She unlocked the door and went inside. Neal followed.

They went to Emma's desk, where Emma sat down. Neal awkwardly took a seat on the other side of the desk.

Emma checked the inside of one of the cups to make sure it was coffee, and took a sip. Then another, a longer one.

Unsure of what to do in the silence, Neal took his coffee in his hands and held it, though he didn't drink it.

Emma finally set her coffee back down on the desk.

"You have five minutes to explain," Emma said.

"I don't think five minutes is enough time…" Neal said.

"Make it enough time," Emma said, both her voice and expression stern.

"Okay," Neal said. "One night in Portland, I met your boy August-."

"Who is not my boy," Emma pointed out.

Neal sighed. "I met August, who described himself as your guardian angel. He explained that the curse happened and that you had to be the one to save it. He told me that I was in the way of your destiny, that I _had _to let you do this. I told him he was wrong, that I was your destiny, that I wanted to be with you, but he convinced me the curse was true. So we set you up to get caught and August told me you'd be okay. I believed him. A couple months later, we met again and he said you were okay. He said he'd let me know when you had done what you were supposed to do, when all the craziness would be over he said he'd send a postcard. The money I made from the watches, I gave them to him to give to you. And the car, I gave him the keys for you. I knew I couldn't be with you but I wanted to make sure you'd be alright. A couple years ago I got a postcard from this town saying that the curse was broken, so I came."

"You came two years ago?" Emma asked.

"Yeah," Neal said. "But something kept me out, I guess the curse wasn't as broken as August thought it was. This town doesn't really exist on any map. I came to where the map said the town was but all I found were forests. I stayed, though. I kept trying to find this damn town. Then one day I could see it and come in. So I did."

"How did you get in?" Emma asked. "And what do you mean that you could suddenly see the town?"

"I don't know," Neal said. "It just appeared and I could enter."

"When was this?" Emma asked, gathering her things and getting up.

"Yesterday," Neal said. "As soon as I got into town I found you."

"You need to go," Emma said.

"What?" Neal asked, hurt.

"We'll finish talking later," Emma promised. "After the curse initially broke, parts of it still remained. No one from the other world could leave without losing all their memories of their old lives, and no one could enter. You got in, so something changed with the curse."

Neal stood up. "Where are you going?"

"I have to go talk to the woman who cast the curse," Emma said.

"Who, the evil queen?" Neal asked jokingly.

"Yeah," Emma said. She went to walk out.

"What about Henry?" Neal asked, calling after her. "I want to meet him."

"Later," Emma said. "We'll talk later."

**-OUAT-**

Emma knocked hastily on Regina's front door.

"Emma," Regina said when she opened the door. "Hello."

"Can I come in?" Emma asked. "We need to talk."

"Okay," Regina said cautiously, not sure where this was going. "What's going on?"

"There are new people in town," Emma said. "People have been able to get in."

"People?" Regina asked. "What people?"

"Don't freak out," Emma began. "But Henry's father is here."

"What?" Regina asked. "I thought he was dead."

"I lied about that," Emma said. "It's…it's complicated with him. He won't cause any trouble, but he's here."

"How did he get here?"

"He said August let him know when the curse broke, then he came," Emma said. "He couldn't get into town for years and then yesterday the town appeared and he could enter."

"He could enter town?" Regina asked. "How is that possible? The curse isn't broken completely."

"Apparently it is," Emma said. "Or at least more than we thought it was. But we need to figure out why and how. If the curse is broken, there might be new rules with the town boundary. We might be able to leave this place."

"I thought you could leave whenever you want to," Regina said, walking through the house toward the basement, with Emma following.

"I can," Emma said. "Henry, too, because we aren't from your world."

"Henry's father isn't from our world, either, so maybe that's why he could enter," Regina suggested.

"Maybe," Emma said. "But I don't think so. I'm not the magic expert here, but I have a feeling that this had something to do with the curse breaking, or at least weakening. People don't just come here."

"Are you suggesting that travel back to our world is possible?"

Emma shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know."

Regina stopped in front of the basement door and turned to face Emma.

"What I am about to show you is secret," Regina started. "Don't tell anyone."

"Okay," Emma began. She followed Regina into the basement, then into the small, windowless room.

"A hat," Emma said, when she saw it on the floor of the room.

"One of Jefferson's hats," Regina said. "He made it."

"Why?" Emma asked. "He has his daughter back, he's happy here."

"He wants everyone to be able to go home," Regina said. "So he made me a deal. He'll make the hat and I'll supply the magic and get everyone back."

"I thought you gave up magic," Emma said.

"I want redemption," Regina said. "And this is how I get it. If I find a way back home…"

"Regina," Emma said. "You've been forgiven. Maybe this isn't everyone's original home, but this is the place where everyone got their happy endings. This place became home."

"I know," Regina said. "I just…I want to make things right."

"How do you know things aren't right now?" Emma asked. Suddenly her phone rang. "Excuse me," she said, picking up the phone.

Emma spoke on the phone for a bit then turned to Regina.

"I have to go," she said. "An abandoned car was found on the side of the road. It looks like it was in a pretty bad crash. They think it is Gold's."

**-OUAT-**

Ruby and Archie walked hand in hand from their car to the library door.

"It's a good thing I was scheduled to be off today," Ruby said. "We can spend today together and talk to Granny later, after the diner is less busy."

"Looking forward to it," Archie said.

Ruby pulled on the library door. "That's weird," she said. "The library's closed."

Archie shrugged. "Maybe Belle left to go get lunch or something."

Ruby shook her head. "She never leaves during the library's open hours. Usually she brings lunch with her or Rumple will bring it to her from the diner."

"Maybe she went to Mr. Gold's store," Archie suggested.

"Can we check?" Ruby asked.

"Of course," Archie agreed.

Then went over to Gold's store. Archie tried to keep Ruby calm, but it wasn't working. She had a sense for when thing went wrong.

"She was working during the snow storm," Ruby said. "What if something happened when she was there, or when she was going home?!"

"Ruby, dear, it is okay," Archie said. "Don't panic, okay? It can't be good for the baby."

Ruby took a deep breath. "Sorry," she said. "I just…I can't shake this feeling that something is wrong."

"We'll get to the bottom of it," Archie said.

As the pulled in near Gold's shop, they noticed Emma's car. Emma was standing in front of the shop, trying to open the door.

"Mr. Gold!" Emma yelled. "Please open the door!"

"Emma, what's going on?" Ruby asked.

"Ruby," Emma said. "You're not working today?"

Ruby shook her head. "Look, Belle isn't at the library and she didn't answer her phone."

Emma was about to say something, but her phone rang.

"Hello?" she said. "Yes, this is Sheriff Swan. I called before about Mr. Gold…So he's there…Belle French is there? …I'll be over soon. Thank you very much."

"What's going on?" Ruby asked. "Where's Belle?"

"There was a car accident," Emma said. "She's in the hospital."

**-OUAT-**

Emma, Ruby, and Archie walked into the intensive care unit of the hospital.

"I'm looking for Belle French," Emma said to the nurse at the desk.

"Room 3," the nurse said. Emma went to go into the room and Ruby followed. "Only one is allowed in at a time."

Ruby stopped, wanting to go in anyways but knowing that she didn't want to disobey hospital rules. She went and stood with Archie.

Emma stood in the doorway of Belle's room.

"Mr. Gold," Emma began. "I need to speak with you."

Rumple looked up. "Why?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

"I know you were in a car accident and didn't file a police report," Emma said. "I want to talk to you about that. You don't have to file a formal report, but we need to talk about what happened."

"Can't we talk here?" Rumple asked.

"No," Emma said. "I'm sorry. We can talk in my office, or even somewhere in the hospital, like the cafeteria."

Rumple didn't say anything.

"I get that you don't want to leave her alone," Emma said. "Ruby is here, she can keep an eye on Belle. She can stay with her, in case she wakes up."

Rumple sighed. "Alright."

He followed Emma out of the room.

"Ruby," Rumple said when he saw her. "Please go in with her. You're her friend."

Ruby nodded. "Of course."

"Let's go," Emma said. She and Rumple left.

"Ruby," Archie said. "I'm going to get some coffee, okay? I'll get you some tea."

"Thank you," Ruby said. She appreciated that Archie wanted to give her some time alone.

Archie kissed her forehead then left.

Ruby went into Belle's room. "Hey," she said softly, sitting down. "I don't know if you can hear me or not. I hope you can. I hope you wake up soon."

Ruby moved her chair closer to Belle and leaned on the bed. "I told Archie, about the baby." She laughed softly and touched her stomach. "You were right. Archie was thrilled, just like you said he'd be. I know I freaked out a lot, but I'm thrilled, too."

Ruby sighed. "I don't know how to do this," she said. "And I know Gold doesn't. We're used to sleeping spells and curses, not car crashes and comas. I don't know if I'm supposed to talk to you or just be here. Don't get me wrong, I want to be here for you. It's just…Rumplestiltskin is a mess. He needs you. We all do, so if you can try to wake up soon. Please."

Ruby leaned back in her chair bur still held Belle's hand. "So I guess that covers the sappy plea portion of this. I guess we can just pretend things are normal and we're having a regular conversation. I don't know, maybe that's what you need. Some normalcy through all this.

"Not that anything is normal," Ruby continued. "I mean, you're getting married. Archie and I are having a baby. Oh, and Archie proposed. He was apparently planning on it but me telling him I'm pregnant kind of messed up his plans. That night was…that night was a little intense. How about I tell you about it when you wake up? I think you'll like that story. It is crazy Ruby at her best."

Ruby paused to collect her thoughts. "Let's see, what else can I update you on…" she began. "Snow got a cat. Do you like cats? Apparently the baby doesn't because the smell of the cat set off my morning sickness." Ruby sighed again, but this time with excitement. "It is going to be an interesting nine months, Belle. And I really want you to be around for it. And for your wedding, and mine. Please be okay after all this."

With that, Ruby felt content to sit silently with Belle, keeping an eye on her and taking it all in. Ruby still was not at all comfortable in the situation and she still felt weight on her heart, but she felt okay to sit there and stay with Belle.

**-OUAT-**

"Mr. Gold, I know this is a bad time for you," Emma said. "I can't imagine what you are feeling right now. But you need to tell me what happened."

"I was driving Belle home from the library," Mr. Gold said. "The night of the blizzard. The weather was so bad I could barely see. Suddenly there was something on the road and I swerved to miss it, but the ice on the road carried us straight into a tree. It…it literally crushed Belle."

"What did you swerve to miss?" Emma asked.

"A boy," Rumple said after a moment.

"Do you know who?" Emma asked. "Did he look lost or like he ran away? Homeless, maybe?"

Rumple shook his head. "No, not exactly," he said. "He is my son."

"Where did he come from?" Emma asked. "Your world?"

Rumple shook his head again. "No, he didn't mention the place, but it wasn't our land. He said it was a place with boys who never grew up and only one adult, who they avoided. There were also fairies that could make them fly."

"Were these boys lost?" Emma asked.

"I suppose so," Rumple said.

"He came from Neverland," Emma said. "Your son is Peter Pan."

Rumple nodded. "I guessed as much, because I know a bit about Neverland. I've been keeping an eye on Hook for a while now."

"How did he get here, though?" Emma asked.

"I don't know," Rumple answered. "I'm sorry, but I honestly don't."

"Do you think he would talk to Regina?" Emma asked.

"Why?"

"Your son isn't the only new person in town," Emma said. "Henry's father is here."

Rumple looked surprised. "How?" he asked. "He is from this world, yes?"

Emma nodded. "I don't know how he got in. He said he could just magically see the town and could walk right on in. Regina and I are investigating. Do you want to help?"

Rumple shook his head. "I gave up magic long ago. I can't, I'm sorry."

"I understand," Emma said. "But do you think you could get your son to talk to Regina? Or me, even, if he isn't comfortable with Regina."

"I'll talk to him," Rumple said.

"Thank you," Emma said.

Rumple nodded, then got up to go back upstairs to Belle.

"Gold, wait," Emma said. He turned. Emma walked up to him and gave him a hug. "She's strong. She'll be okay."

"Thank you," Rumple said. He left to go back upstairs.

**-OUAT-**

Emma ran into Ruby and Archie in the lobby of the hospital.

"Hey," Emma said. "You alright?"

Ruby nodded, though her red, puffy eyes and slightly run mascara told a different story. "Yeah, I'm good," Ruby said. "It is just hard to see her like that, you know?"

Emma nodded. "Did you hear anything about how she is doing?"

"I spoke to the doctor," Ruby said. "He came in while I was with her. He said she's improving. He thinks she should be awake within the next week."

"A week?" Emma asked. "That's good?"

Archie spoke up. "With cases like this, awakening anytime in the first three weeks is seen as having a good chance for full recovery."

"Belle's a fighter," Ruby said. "She's going to pull through."

Emma nodded in agreement. "She's going to be okay."

"I know," Ruby said. "It is still scary, though."

"It is," Emma agreed. But she wasn't just talking about Belle. The whole situation in town was changing. Neal and Rumple's son managed to come to town and Belle almost died. Emma honestly didn't know what would happen, but wanted to believe the best. Right then, it was all she could do.

**-OUAT-**

Outside the building the Charming family lived in, Hook stood. He stood on the sidewalk, with a hat on cover his face and his hands in his pockets. Well, his hand and his hook. He faced the building and breathed in the wintery air, a small smirk on his face.

"Excuse me," an old woman said as she approached him. "I just parked down the street a bit to go to a shop, but I noticed you looked kind of lost. Do you need any help?"

"Ah, no," Hook said. "I am not lost at all. I am right where I'm supposed to be." He nodded towards the building.

"Oh, are you moving?" the woman asked.

"Yeah, you could say that," he said. "And this building happens to have everything I'm looking for."

**Ah! Hook drama! He's figured out where Emma lives! Dun dun duuuun.**

**I'll try to post the next chapter soon. Please leave a review with anything you liked or disliked, or anything you want to see happen!**

**Also, please leave a review about whether or not you'd like to see flashbacks in this story!**

**Thanks again everyone :)**


	4. Chapter 4 Progress and Questions

**Hey everyone. Y'all seemed to be good with the idea of flashbacks in this story, so I'm going to start using them. **

**Disclaimer: I still don't own any of this.**

Chapter 4 Progress and Questions

"Good news, Mr. Gold," the doctor said. "I just ran another test on Belle's brain function and it is looking really good. She's improving."

"Really?" Rumple asked.

"Yes," the doctor replied. "Quite rapidly, at that."

Rumple smiled for the first time in days. "Good."

The doctor nodded, then left.

"Hear that, darling?" Rumple said to Belle. "You're getting better."

He took her hand in his and kissed it.

He sighed. "It'll be alright, dear."

They sat silently for a moment, then suddenly Rumple felt movement on his hand. Belle's fingers moved.

"Belle," he breathed, shocked. "Doctor!" he called. "Nurse! She moved! Belle's fingers moved!"

The doctor rushed back in.

"That may have just been an involuntary movement," he explained "But I'll give her a more thorough exam anyway. If you could just step out and we'll get the tests done."

"Of course," Rumple said and stepped out. While he was at the hospital, he usually didn't want to leave Belle's side. But he was so over the moon that her finger moved that he would let the doctors do their jobs without too much of a hassle.

Rumple's heart was pounding in the excited way, and that sensation brought him back to the last time his heart pounded with nervous excitement.

_It was just more than two years since the curse had broken. Rumple and Belle had been dating ever since the curse broke. It was a lovely spring evening and he was talking a walk with Belle._

"_Well, Rumple," Belle began. "You cook me dinner yourself and now you take me on a romantic walk around town? I'm impressed."_

_Rumple chuckled. "You deserve the best, Belle."_

_Belle giggled. "I love you, Rumple."_

"_I love you, too, Belle," Rumple replied._

_Belle took Rumple's arm and put it around her shoulders as she nestled next to him as they walked. They walked in blissful silence for a bit before Belle spoke up._

"_Are we going to the library?" she asked, taking in the surroundings and recognizing them as the neighborhood the library is in._

"_Yes we are," Rumple replied._

"_Why?"_

"_You'll see," Rumple replied. "Belle, what do you think of marriage?"_

_Belle looked surprised. "I don't know," she said. "I want to be with you forever and I will love you forever, but I don't need a ring to prove that." She shrugged. "I know you were married before and you had a family before, so I always assumed you were not looking to get married again. Which is fine; marriage doesn't prove that we love each other. We know in our hearts that we're in love and that is enough."_

"_You're wrong, dear," Rumple said as he opened the door to the library and followed Belle inside. "I wasn't looking to be married when we first met, but I am not that monster anymore. If you still think I do not want to be married, you are wrong. I love you so much, Belle."_

"_Rumple…" Belle said, tearing up and starting to guess at where this was heading._

_Rumple took her hand and led her to the middle of the library, where he had set up many candles and flowers in beautiful shades of yellow like the gown she wore when they first met, pale blue like the dress she often wore at Rumple's castle, and bright blue like her eyes._

_He put his hand on her face and wiped away a tear with his thumb. "Belle," he began again. "For so long I didn't think myself worthy of love like yours. You brought a light, a joy, into my world that I had not experienced before. Your love changed me from beast to human, from coward to a man who will fight for what he wants. And I want you, Belle. I need you in my life forever. So please, my beautiful Belle, please do me the honor of being my wife."_

_He struggled to get down on one knee, moaning slightly as he put his weight on his bad leg. Once he was on one knee, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a box containing the ring with the blue stone._

"_Belle French, will you marry me?"_

_Belle laughed with joy and nodded. "Yes," she said. "Yes. Of course!" She put on the ring._

_She then went to her knees so she was level with him and passionately kissed him._

_Caught off guard a bit, Rumple fell onto his back, and Belle fell on top of him. They both were laughing with excitement and pure joy as they continued to kiss._

Rumple's mind brought him back to the present moment. He stood outside the hospital room, looking in at the doctors working on Belle.

He sighed. "I need you, Belle," he said softly as he looked at her, unmoving.

**-OUAT-**

Neal walked into Emma's office at the police station and went right up to her desk.

"You didn't talk to me after you kicked me out of here yesterday," he said.

Emma looked up. "Some people knock before entering a room, you know."

Neal shrugged. "You know I've never been one for rules." He gave her that smile that used to make her go weak in the knees, but now just sent a stab of pain through her heart.

"Don't smile," she said sternly. "Sit."

Neal wiped away his grin and sat down.

"So August told you to stay away?" Emma asked. Neal nodded. "And you listened. I thought you weren't much for rules."

"That's not fair," Neal said. "You know him. He has a way of making you believe what he is saying, of making you believe that what he says is the absolute truth. He made it seem like he couldn't tell a lie."

"Well he is Pinocchio," Emma said.

Neal's eyes widened. "So the people here are actually fairy tale characters? Who are you?"

"I am the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming," Emma said.

"Wow," Neal said in a light tone. "And for twenty eight years, no one here knew?"

Emma nodded. "Henry was the one who figured it out."

Neal smiled a bit. "So he's a smart kid, huh? Figuring out the truth when no one else did."

Emma nodded. "Yeah, he's a good kid. Which is why I am not just going to let you see him whenever you want. I'm his mother-"

"I'm his father!" Neal interjected.

"I know," Emma said. "But I have to protect him."

"From me?"

Emma nodded. "You abandoned me, how do I know you won't do the same with him?"

"I left to protect you!" Neal said. "To help you! How many times do I have to say it before you understand?"

"It isn't just up to me," Emma said. "Emma's adoptive mother, Regina, gets a say too."

"I can't believe you gave him up for adoption." There was a lot of anger but even more hurt in his voice.

"I was eighteen years old, Neal," Emma said, on the defensive. "I was in jail. You were gone."

"But you know how bad the system is, Em!" Neal said. "You and I have both been in it. Being a kid in the system is the worst way to grow up. You let our child go through that?"

"No," Emma said. "The jail set me up with someone to adopt him. I never met her until I came here, but she got him when he was three weeks old."

"You abandoned him," Neal said. "I didn't even know about him. But you, you _knew_ someone else would raise him and you know how bad that could go sometimes. And you're worried _I'll_ abandon him? You already did." He got up and stormed out.

"Neal!" Emma called angrily. She got up and followed him. "Neal! You can't just say that and leave, that isn't fair!"

He ignored her and peeled out of the parking lot.

Sighing, Emma recalled a specific day from her past.

"_Tallahassee, here we come!" Neal said excitedly as he pulled out of the motel parking lot._

_Emma smiled. "I can't wait for the sun and the beaches. It rains too much in Portland."_

"_You can have anything you want in Tallahassee," Neal said. "We can stay there, instead of always running. We can have a house, or an apartment, or a cardboard box for all I care. We can have a home."_

_Emma's smile softened as Neal's words sunk in. "A home," she said. "I don't think I've ever had one before."_

"_Me neither," Neal said. "But me and you, babe, we're gonna have one."_

_Emma smiled again and took his hand that wasn't on the steering wheel. "I'd like that."_

"_Me too," Neal said. "And who knows, maybe one day we can get that house with the white picket fence, and we can get married and have a few kids and a dog."_

"_Whoa, slow down, Neal," Emma said._

_He looked at her funny. "What, am I driving too fast?'_

"_No," Emma said. "Just..getting married and having kids and a dog. That's a lot."_

"_What's wrong with a lot?" Neal said. "For a couple kids like us who grew up with nothing, that seems pretty damn good." He chuckled._

_Emma shrugged. "I've never had a mother or a good role model in my life. I wouldn't know how to be a good wife or mother."_

"_Well," Neal said. "I can't ever imagine being unhappy with you, so I don't think you'll be a bad wife. Besides, we make a great team! We haven't been caught yet."_

_Emma smiled and shook her head. "I thought the point of this was to be less Bonnie and Clyde and more Brady Bunch?"_

_Neal chuckled. "Look, Em, I know the idea of this happening is scary. And I'm not saying we do it right now, I'm just throwing it out as a possibility. But if it ever does happen, we'll do it together. I'll have your back and you'll have mine. We'll be good parents because we have each other."_

_Emma looked at him. "So, whatever happens in Tallahassee, we're in it together?"_

_Neal gave her hand a squeeze. "We're in it together."_

**-OUAT-**

There was a knock on Snow's door. Roads in town were still being cleared of ice and debris from the storm, so Snow declared a delayed opening of the school for the day. Charming and Emma went to work at normal time, though, and Henry was with Regina, so Snow was home alone.

Snow opened the door. "May I help you?" she asked to the man standing in front of her. He was facing away from the door, so she only saw the back of him.

"Snow," the man said. He turned. "I was hoping for Emma, but you'll do."

"Hook," Snow said.

Before she could do anything, though, Hook swiftly reached into his bag, pulled out some sleeping powder, and threw it in Snow's face. She crumpled to the ground.

"My, my," Hook said. "It is quite rude to fall asleep when you have a guest."

**-OUAT-**

The bells on the diner door rang as Archie walked in.

"Archie," Ruby said happily. "Hey." She stepped out from behind the counter and kissed him hello. "I'll go get Granny. Have a seat."

The diner was empty of all people but Ruby, Archie, and Granny, who was in the kitchen but could see Ruby and Archie through the window.

Archie nervously sat down in a booth and waited until Ruby returned.

"Please Granny don't have the crossbow," he muttered to himself as he saw the women coming towards him. He got up when they got closer and greeted Granny. "Hello."

"Archie," she said, sitting down in the booth. Archie went in on the other side and Ruby sat beside him. Archie put his arm around Ruby's shoulders.

"So, Granny," Ruby began. "Thanks for meeting with us."

Granny nodded.

"We appreciate it," the younger woman added.

"Are you feeling better?" Granny asked.

Ruby was confused for a moment, then remembered that Granny thought she was sick when she missed work the other day. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine now."

"Because you've been acting oddly for a few days now," Granny began, turning her attention to Archie but still talking to Ruby. She gave Archie a mean stare. "And if it is his fault, you need to tell me. I can't remember the last time you called out from work. You haven't been alright."

"Granny, I told you, I'm fine now," Ruby said. "I promise."

"If I may," Archie spoke up. "I just want to say that I love Ruby, and I would never do anything that would hurt her. She is the best part of my world and I love everything about her, everything she is, and everything she will be."

He looked down at Ruby, who beamed brightly back up at him. Then she turned to Granny and spoke.

"Speaking of things I'm going to be," Ruby said. "Archie came today so we could tell you something. We're getting married and I'm pregnant. So, I'm going to be Archie's wife and we're going to be parents."

Granny nodded slowly. "I see."

Ruby and Archie exchanged a look. "Are you okay with this?" Ruby asked. "I mean, I'm getting married and I'm going to have a baby. That's kind of a big thing."

"It is," Granny agreed.

"Well, are you happy?" Ruby asked. "Are you excited?"

Archie could hear the fear in Ruby's voice; she thought that Granny didn't approve of this and was angry. Archie thought he knew what was going on though.

"Granny," he began. "We know this is a lot to take in. You might be a little bit in shock now, right?"

Granny nodded. "You're all grown up, now, Ruby."

"And that's a good thing," Ruby said, with a hint of a question in her voice. All she wanted was her grandmother's approval.

"Yes, yes, of course!" Granny said. She smiled. "I always knew the day would come when you would tell me you're getting married or having a baby. I didn't think it would be on the same day, but still. I knew this day would come but I never really prepared for it."

"But you're happy, right?" Ruby asked.

"Absolutely!" Granny said. She got out of the booth and held her arms open for a hug. Ruby got out of the booth and happily obliged hr grandmother, hugging her warmly. "Congratulations, Ruby."

"Thank you," Ruby said, smiling.

"You too, Archie," Granny said

Archie grinned and got out of the booth, then gave Granny a hug.

"You're a good man," Granny admitted. "You're the kind of man I wanted to be Ruby's husband and father of her children."

Archie smiled while blushing a bit. "Thank you."

Granny pulled back from the hug. "But if you _ever_ hurt her or my great-grandchild, just know I still have the crossbow and I never miss."

Archie's eyes widened.

"Granny!" Ruby scolded. She turned to Archie. "She's joking."

"Okay," Archie said, still a little scared about the crossbow.

Granny went back into the booth, prompting Archie and Ruby to do the same.

"I suppose you have some questions?" Granny asked.

Ruby and Archie both nodded.

"How does my being a wolf affect this?" Ruby asked. "What happens if I turn?"

"You're pregnancy will be just like a human one," Granny said. "So it is safe to find a doctor, because it won't be unlike anything they've seen before."

Ruby nodded and breathed a sigh of relief.

"As for turning," Granny said. "I've heard things. I've heard that if a woman doesn't turn while she's pregnant, the wolf gene will be dormant in her child."

Ruby gasped and Archie looked surprised.

"How can that be true?" Ruby asked. "Has anyone ever found out for sure?"

"I don't know," Granny said. "All I know is that that is a theory. I used to know a wolf who was studying the wolf gene. She was going to test it but never got the chance."

"Why didn't she get the chance to test it?" Archie asked.

"Her village killed her," Granny said.

Ruby and Archie exchanged a concerned look.

The bells above the door to the diner rang as a customer walked in.

"I'll get this one," Granny said. "You two should talk. But, Ruby, the lunch rush is going to start soon, so I'm going to need you back soon."

Ruby nodded.

"And, really, congratulations," Granny said. She turned to go help the customer.

"This changes things," Ruby said to her fiancé.

"Does it?" Archie asked. "I thought you accepted that the baby will be a wolf."

"That was before this," Ruby replied.

Archie was about to respond, but the bells above the door rang again and another customer came in. Ruby got up.

"Look, there isn't a full moon tonight, or for another few days," Ruby said. "We've got some time to figure this out, okay? We can talk tonight when we get home."

"Okay," Archie said. He got up and gave Ruby a quick kiss. "Have a good day at work, Ruby."

"You too, babe."

**-OUAT-**

Snow woke up to darkness. Her hands were tied behind her back and she thought she was tied to a chair. She could feel something covering her eyes, but couldn't get it off.

"Hook!" Snow yelled.

"You called?" Hook said, removing the blindfold from Snow's eyes and showing himself to her.

"Untie me."

Hook smirked. "Cute," he said. "But no. You see, I have a qualm with your daughter, and since she has eluded me since I've been in this _charming_ little town, so I decided to go for the next best thing."

"Stay away from Emma," Snow said. "Hook, you stay away from my daughter!"

"Or what?" Hook asked. "What can you do if you're tied up?"

Snow gave him a mean glare.

"Look, Snow, I don't have anything against you," Hook said. "And usually I like to keep my vengeance between me and the one who wronged me, but special circumstances call for special measures."

"How did you even get here?" Snow asked.

Hook laughed. "Wouldn't you like to know." Snow held her stare. "I don't know," he said. "All I know is that I just could enter town. Something drew me here, and I'm guessing it was your daughter Emma. Or that crocodile, Rumplestiltskin. Oh how I'd love to skin them both…but I've got to start somewhere."

He put the blindfold back over the Snow's eyes. Snow could hear his footsteps as he left the room.

"Hook!" she yelled. "Where are you going?!"

He stopped. "Why, I'm going Swan hunting," he said simply, then left.

Snow heard a door close and knew she was alone.

_Where am I?_ she asked herself. _I have to get out, I have to warn Emma. But where am I?_

Snow tried to use her old skills and figure out where she was. She slowed her breathing, so it was so quiet she couldn't hear it and so slight that she didn't move. She closed her eyes in concentration.

Then she felt it.

The room was rocking. It was slight, only barely noticeable, but it was there.

_Of course,_ she thought to herself. _I'm on his ship._

**-OUAT-**

Rumple was at his usual seat, beside Belle's bed. He had taken to reading to her, which was what she was doing right then.

He looked up from the book and at his fiancée. "Belle, I know you hate when I interrupt books with my commentary, but I must say this Harry Potter truly does not know magic," he said. "At least, not the real magic that we know. Used to know. I must say, though, that you would love this Hermione character. I'm seeing why Henry suggested this book. Aside from the magical inaccuracies, it is a pretty gripping tale."

He was about to delve back into the novel when there was a knock on the door.

Rumple looked up. "Doctor," he said. He stood and put the book down on the chair. "Did the test results come back?"

The doctor nodded. "Yes, Mr. Gold, and I would like to discuss the results with you."

Rumple nodded. "Well, are they good?"

"Yes," the doctor said. "But also no. The good news is that her brain function is nearing normal at a much faster rate than I would have predicted. By the looks of these tests, she should be awake already."

"Why isn't she?" Rumple asked.

The doctor shook his head. "That is the bad news. We don't know."

"How can you not know?!"

"Mr. Gold," the doctor said. "I understand this is frustrating. The movement in her fingers this morning was most likely her brain trying to get back into regular function, which is a good sign. Usually, whole body function follows, but not yet for Belle."

"Can you tell when she'll awaken?" Rumple asked.

The doctor shook his head. "I'm sorry. Like I said, the tests show that she should be awake already. The science of comas is complicated enough, but when you throw in results like this, the best we can do is keep her stable and hope."

Rumple seemed to accept this. "Thank you," he said to the doctor, who then turned and left.

"Well, Belle," Rumple began, turning his attention back to Belle. "We shall hope."

He went to sit down and picked up the book.

"Magic," Rumple said softly to himself. He looked from the book, to Belle, then back to the book. "I could use magic."

"For what?" came a voice from the doorway.

Rumple looked up and saw Ruby standing in the doorway holding a bag from the diner.

"Nothing," Rumple replied. He held up the book. "I was just reading out loud to her."

"Ah," Ruby said, recognition showing on her face. "That's a good one. I particularly like Lupin."

"I haven't gotten to him, yet," Rumple said.

"Oh," Ruby said. "Sorry." She held up the bag. "I figured I'd stop by and bring you dinner, maybe stay with Belle a bit so you can go catch a shower or something."

"Catch a shower?"

"You know what I mean," Ruby said. "You need to take care of yourself. It is great that you don't want to leave her here, but at some point you have to. Have you even slept in a real bed the past few nights?"

"I'm fine," Rumple said.

"At least eat dinner," Ruby said. "Real food, not whatever you can get from the nearest vending machine. And I figured you were tired, so I got coffee, too."

Rumple gratefully took the bag. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Ruby said. "Look, I know you have…complicated relationships with pretty much everyone in town and everyone was really pissed at you when the curse first broke."

"No need to be subtle, Ruby," Rumple said sarcastically.

"That being said," Ruby continued. "You've proven to be good for Belle. She's a good person and she deserves to be with someone who is good. You gave up magic for her, and I can only guess how hard that was. She'll pull through, you have to believe that. She couldn't wait to be married to you, so she isn't going to let a coma stop her."

Rumple laughed. "Yes, Belle is a determined one."

Ruby smiled and nodded in agreement.

"But what are you doing here?" Rumple asked. "Really? I imagine you would want to go home to Dr. Hopper after a long day at the diner, yet you're here."

"What, I can't visit Belle?"

Rumple gave her a look.

Ruby sighed. "Not that it is any of your business," she began. "But I've got a lot on my mind today. I wanted to have some time to think before going home and talking about it with Archie. I don't want to fight with him."

"I didn't think Dr. Hopper was ever one to fight," Rumple said.

"I don't want a _disagreement_ with him," Ruby said. "I just want to clear my head and have something be simple for once."

"This is simple?" Rumple asked.

"That isn't what I meant," Ruby said. "I just…I need time to think and usually when I need to think about something I'll talk it over with Belle or Snow, but Snow isn't answering her phone and I figured you could use a break anyway, so…"

"Well, since you're here," Rumple said. "I can tell you what the doctor said. Her tests show that she should be awake by now, but for some reason she isn't."

"Why not?" Ruby asked.

"No one knows," Rumple replied. After a moment, he spoke again. "You know what, I think I'll go take that walk. I think I saw a table outside that I could eat at."

"Okay," Ruby said.

Rumple left and walked down the hall. He looked calm, like simply a man going on a walk. But in his head, his mind was racing.

_She should be awake,_ he thought. _Why isn't she awake? If medicine can't wake her…maybe magic can._

**Thus concludes chapter four. Please leave a review!**


	5. Chapter 5 A Land With Magic

**Hello beautiful readers! Yes, you are lovely. Hope that isn't creepy, I'm just trying to display my appreciation for all y'all who read this and like it and review, favorite, follow, etc. Y'all are truly excellent.**

**Anyways. Here comes chapter 5! :) Hope y'all like this one.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this.**

Chapter 5

_Belle unlocked the door to the library and walked in, turning on the lights, thus opening the library for the day. She wasn't expecting very many people to show up; it was a few days after Snow and Emma returned from Fairytale Land and people were too busy to get to the library. Belle walked up to the desk and put down her bag. She noticed a note on the desk:_

Meet me for lunch at Granny's. No interruptions this time, I promise. –Rumple

_Belle looked around and sighed. She didn't want to go to lunch with Rumple, she was still so angry at him. But she also knew that it must have taken a lot for Rumple to leave her a note like that, and she should respect his effort. So, that morning she kept herself as busy as possibly until she decided it was a good time to go to Granny's._

_When she reached the diner, she stood outside for a few moments. She could see Rumple through the window, but he couldn't see her because his back was to the door. Someone walked past Belle and went into the diner. As he opened the door, the bells rang. Belle could see Rumple's head whip around and there was a hopeful look on his face; he clearly wished it was Belle who walked through the door._

_Belle saw this and sighed. Rumple was clearly hurting and she hated that. She took a deep breath and walked in._

_Rumple's face lit up when he saw her. He went to stand up but Belle stopped him._

"_No, don't get up," Belle said. She slid into the seat of the booth so that she was facing him. She looked down at the table. "You ordered us hamburgers." She grinned a bit._

"_I did," Rumple said. "But they might be a little cold by now, I'm sure I can call back to Granny or Ruby and they can heat it up."_

"_Don't worry about it, it's fine," Belle assured him._

_Rumple nodded. "Okay."_

_Belle looked at him. "Are you…are you nervous?"_

_Rumple shook his head and scoffed. "Of course not."_

_Belle gave him a look._

"_I'm nervous," Rumple admitted. "I upset you and I don't know how to earn your forgiveness."_

"_Rumple," Belle began. "You said you gave up magic. You said you would give it up, but you used it anyway to put the curse on the well."_

"_I had to," Rumple said._

"_Did you?" Belle asked. "Did you really? Because as I recall Henry had to beg for the curse to be taken away – by Regina – and the curse almost killed Snow and Emma."_

"_I couldn't risk Cora coming through," Rumple said._

"_But you could not have known it would be her!" Belle said. "There was a definite likelihood it would have been Snow and Emma, and it was. If Regina hadn't taken the curse off, they would be dead."_

"_Belle, you don't understand," Rumple began._

"_Don't tell me I don't understand!" Belle said. "I may be newer to this world than everyone else but I do know that a promise is a promise, no matter where it is made."_

"_Belle," Rumple began. "I'm still a coward. That is why I needed to…wanted to use magic. I am terrified at the thought of losing you, and I don't know any way to handle that other than by using magic."_

"_Rumple," Belle began. "You're not going to lose me because of this woman."_

"_Am I going to lose you for a different reason?" Rumple asked._

_Belle thought for a few moments. "I don't know. Rumple, you said you wouldn't use magic and you did. I know I said that I would stay because you still think you're a monster, but I don't know how else to make you see that you're not."_

"_I love you, Belle," Rumple said._

"_I love you, too," Belle replied after a moment._

"_I used magic because Regina was right," Rumple said. "When she said I have a weakness now. I do. You're a weakness, you're something that my enemies can hurt in order to hurt me."_

"_And you think Cora would do that," Belle said._

"_Definitely," Rumple replied. "She hates me and would kill me if she had the chance. But if she saw there was a way to hurt me more than killing me would, she would use it. She would hurt you, Belle. I cannot let her do that."_

"_Rumple," Belle began. "Thank you for trying to protect me. But you must know that if anything were to ever happen, we would face it together. It isn't fair to take things into your own hands like that. I can protect myself."_

"_I was so scared that she could hurt you," Rumple said. "But I am sorry that I hurt you. I swear to you, Belle, no more magic."_

"_Thank you, Rum," Belle said. "But maybe you don't have to give up magic completely. I know you'll need it to find Bae. So how about from now on you use your magic for good?"_

_Rumple smiled. "Deal."_

_Belle gave him a look. She then leaned back and looked around the table. "Speaking of magic…ketchup?"_

_Rumple laughed. "It _is_ this world's most powerful magic. Put it on your burger, see how it tastes."_

_Belle laughed then tried it. "It's good," she admitted._

_Rumple nodded enthusiastically in agreement. "I told you it was."_

_They carried on their conversation happily that evening. Things weren't magically perfect from then on, because no relationship ever is, but that started the ongoing time of more good moments than bad between Belle and Rumplestitlskin. _

**-OUAT-**

Emma walked into her apartment building, exhausted. She was still upset about her fight with Neal and she had a ton of paperwork to catch up on from the storm. All she wanted was to collapse into bed and sleep.

She quickly became alert when she approached the apartment door, though. The door was ajar and there was powder on the floor.

She bent down and brushed the powder with her finger. She sniffed it and immediately felt sleepy. _Sleeping powder_, she thought.

"Mary Margaret?" she called into the apartment. "David?" Henry was staying with Regina that night, so at least she knew he was safe.

Emma stepped inside and saw David's coat and car keys were gone, so he was still at work. Mary Margaret's jacket, though, was crumpled on the floor like she had grabbed it to go out the door then suddenly dropped it.

Upon closer inspection, though, Emma realized that Mary Margaret didn't drop it, it was forced out of her hand. There was a hole ripped through the fabric, a hole that was made by some pointy object.

_Sleeping powder, a weapon with a point_, Emma thought to herself. Suddenly it all made sense. _Hook._

She closed the door and headed back outside, quickly dialing David's number on her phone.

"David?" Emma said, talking so fast that he didn't have a chance to greet her. "It's Emma. I just got home, Mary Margaret is missing."

"What?!" David asked. "What happened?"

"I think Hook got her," Emma explained.

"How?" David asked. "How did he get into town? How did he take Snow?"

"I don't know," Emma replied. "Meet me at the station in five. I'm going to call Ruby to meet us there so she can track Mary Margaret and Hook."

"Alright," David replied. "I'll see you there."

Emma hung up and dialed Ruby's number.

"Emma?" Ruby asked.

"Ruby, hey, I need your help with something," Emma said.

"Tonight isn't a good time," Ruby said. "I'm already late getting home, I told Archie I'd be home tonight."

"Ruby, I'm sorry but I need you," Emma said.

"Emma-."

"Mary Margaret is missing," Emma interrupted. "I know who took her but I don't know where he or Mary Margaret is and I need you to help track them."

"I'll be at the station in five minutes."

**-OUAT-**

Rumple had dosed off in his seat next to Belle's bed. He woke to knocking on the door to the room. He looked up and saw Bae.

Rumple smiled and stepped out of the room.

"Bae," Rumple said. "I didn't think you would stop by until tomorrow."

"I thought I'd come earlier," Bae replied. "Maybe we could go for a walk, get you out of this room for a while?"

Rumple smiled. "I would like that." He asked the nurse to keep an eye and Belle and call him if anything changed.

"So," Rumple said. "How are you liking Storybrooke? In different circumstances, I would show you around but I hope you like town anyway."

"It is nice," Bae replied. "It is a lot different than Neverland, that's for sure."

Rumple nodded, accepting this.

"How's Belle?" Bae replied after a short silence.

"She's improving," Rumple replied.

"That's good," Bae said. "When do they think she'll wake up?"

Rumple shrugged. "The doctor said that, according to Belle's tests, she should be awake by now."

They came across a bench and sat down.

"Why isn't she awake, then?" Bae asked.

"I don't know," Rumple replied. "No one knows."

"Papa, did you go home last night?" Bae asked.

Rumple looked at him. "Yes, for a bit. Just to shower and change clothes."

"I stopped by your house last night," Bae said. "I couldn't sleep, so I thought I would pay you a visit."

"That was thoughtful of you, Bae," Rumple said. "Thank you."

"I saw you doing magic," Bae said. "Through the basement window, I could see you."

"Bae…"

"I thought you gave it up!" Bae said. "I thought you gave up magic, I thought you quit being a coward!"

"Bae I wasn't using it for anything bad," Rumple said. "I was trying to help Belle! Medicine isn't waking her so I thought magic would. I'm desperate, Bae, I need her to be alright. I am terrified that I will lose her and if that makes me a coward, so be it."

"Papa," Bae began. "You can't just turn to magic whenever things aren't working."

"I don't," Rumple said. "I haven't used magic in nearly three years. I just need Belle to wake up."

"She will, Papa," Bae said. "Magic always comes at a price. If you let the doctors keep working on her, there won't be a price to pay and she'll be okay."

"How can you know that for sure," Rumple asked.

"I can't," Bae said. "No one can. But it is better to trust and believe in people than it is to trust and believe in magic."

Rumple looked at Bae and thought about it. Magic didn't get him Bae, at least not initially. Magic didn't make Belle stay in the castle. Magic didn't make Belle forgive him. Maybe it was time for Rumplestilskin, the Dark One, to accept that trusting people will always be better than trusting magic.

**-OUAT-**

"Do you have anything of Hook's that I can use to track him?" Ruby asked Emma in the police station.

Emma shook her head. "No," she replied. "I figured you could lead us to Mary Margaret, we'll get her safe then hopefully something where she is will lead us to Hook."

"I have something of Mary Margaret's," David supplied, reaching into his pocket and pulling out gloves. "She left these in my car and I just put them in my pocket."

"Thanks," Ruby said. "But I think I already have her scent. It is easier to track someone you spend a lot of time around. You kind of get used to their scent."

Emma made a face; she had spent three years in Storybrooke and still things could catch her off guard. "Right," she said. "Well, lead the way."

"She's at the docks," Ruby said.

"Everyone take their own cars," Emma said. "Then we can split up if we need to."

Ruby and Charming nodded in agreement, then they all left.

**-OUAT-**

Snow struggled to free her hands from the restraints around her wrists, but soon realized it was pointless. They were enchanted so that she could not break them.

So, she resolved herself to thinking of all the ways to break enchantments, so she could get free and warn Emma that Hook is in town.

There was still a blindfold on Snow, but she could tell that Hook was not on the boat with her. She had no idea where he was, but the silence on the ship and lack of vibrations from movement on the deck told her that she was alone.

Until, of course, she wasn't.

She heard footsteps and could feel feet pounding on the deck, coming toward her. Snow thought fast and maneuvered herself to right beside the door. She figured that even if she could not untie herself, she could still try to surprise Hook when he walked in and then escape.

Snow was crouched and ready to leap when she heard a voice.

"She's in the captain's quarters," a voice said.

Snow knew that voice. _Red_, she thought to herself. _The other two must be Charming and Emma._

The footsteps came closer and suddenly the door was kicked wide open.

"Mary Margaret," Emma said, relieved.

Charming stepped up from behind her. "Snow."

Snow got up to walk out the door, but a force stopped her in the doorway.

"What the…" she muttered and she tried to walk through the doorway.

Ruby, Charming, and Emma all exchanged confused glances.

Then, the reality of the situation dawned on Charming.

"It's a spell," he said. "Hook cast a spell restraining you to that room."

"What?" Ruby asked. "He can do that?"

"He knows magic," Emma said. "He was able to take hearts the last time we saw him. Apparently he's branched out into spells."

"What do we do?" Ruby asked.

"Go," Snow said. "I can't get out and you can't get in. I'll just close the door and make it look like you guys were never here, and Hook will be none the wiser."

"Snow…" Charming began.

"She's right," Emma said. "Hook is dangerous. He can't know we were here and that we know he has Mary Margaret magically bound to the ship. If he doesn't know, we have the advantage."

"So, what?" Charming said. "How do we get Hook to release Snow?"

"We fight magic with magic," Emma said.

"How?" Charming asked. "Regina and Rumplstiltskin gave up magic, they aren't practicing anymore. Hook is the only one with magic."

Snow started to realize where Emma was going with this. "Emma, no. There will be another way, magic is too dangerous."

"I can use magic," Emma said. "Back when we were trapped in your land, Cora tried to take my heart but something inside me stopped her. It was like some kind of force. I have magic, and I'm going to learn how to use it. Regina will teach me."

Charming shook his head. "No," he said. "Regina cast this curse in the first place, she uses magic for evil. She can't teach you."

"She's getting better," Emma said. "She's trying to be a better person. And I can't ask Gold, not with everything that is going on with Belle. Regina is our only shot."

"Wouldn't it take a while to get your skills up to a point where you match Hook?" Ruby asked. "Do we have that kind of time?"

Emma turned to Snow. "Mary Margaret, what do you think?"

"I think Hook came for you," Snow said. "And you know that we will fight with you and for you no matter what. But if you think you're our best shot to stop him, I support you. Get Regina to teach you how to break this restraint spell; I'll be fine for a few days while you're learning."

"This is crazy," Charming said. "Snow, you just said magic is too dangerous. Hook wants to fight her, he wants to kill her! We can't just send Emma alone to stop him with magic that she hasn't even learned yet."

"David," Emma began, looking him in the eye. "This is our only shot. Hook came for me, let me be the one to stop him. I can use magic, and I think I should. Less people will get hurt this way."

"You might get hurt!" David said. "I've already lost you twice, Emma. Don't make me lose you again."

"David," Emma said. "I'm going to be fine. And so is Mary Margaret. I'm going to learn how to break her free from this spell and then I'll learn more powerful magic that can stop Hook."

"Magic comes at a price," Ruby piped up. "Be careful."

"You should leave now," Snow said. "I'll be fine. Just go before Hook gets back."

"We're going to get you out," Emma said.

"I know," Snow replied. "Now go. Please."

They turned to go.

"Emma," Ruby said as they hurried away. "Should I grab anything to track Hook with?"

Emma shook her head. "Not now. He might notice if something goes missing. When I come back for Mary Margaret I'll take something and we can track him then."

With that, they left. Charming, in his haste after Emma's phone call, had left several people on hold on his work phone. He didn't want to alert anyone to the trouble Snow was in, so he had to go return those calls. Ruby finally went home to Archie and Emma had one more stop to make: Regina's.

**-OUAT-**

Emma knocked impatiently on Regina's front door.

"Come on, come on," she muttered to herself, mentally willing Regina to come to the door.

Instead, it was Henry who opened the door.

"Emma," he said, rubbing his eyes; clearly he had recently woken up.

"Henry," Emma said. "Kid, what are you doing up? It's late."

"You were knocking on the door," Henry reasoned.

"Sorry to wake you," Emma said. "I need to talk to your mom. Is she home?"

"Yeah," Henry said. "I think she's doing some work in her office."

"Okay," Emma said. She went inside. "You go back to bed. I'll find her."

"Okay," Henry replied, turning to go back upstairs. "Good night."

"Good night," Emma replied. Once she saw Henry go upstairs, she went further into the house. She walked right past Regina's home office and went toward the basement.

"Emma," Regina said once Emma entered the room. "What are you doing here? How did you get in?"

"Henry let me in the front door," Emma replied. "And you left the basement unlocked."

"Henry's up?"

"He is back in bed now," Emma said. "Regina, listen, I need your help with something."

"Okay, let's talk upstairs," Regina said.

"Have you gotten the hat to work?" Emma asked as they walked back upstairs. "Is there a portal back?"

Regina shook her head. "No, I keep trying to send things over, but it isn't working. I'm not getting any messages back from home."

"Who is there to send a message back?"

"I don't know," Regina said. "I just was hoping someone would, because there are still people over there. You know, the people who were left out of the curse because of Cora and Hook, the people like Mulan and Aurora."

"Does the hat lead to anywhere?" Emma asked.

"I think so," Regina replied. "I'm not sure where, though."

"That's fine," Emma said. "As long as it isn't here."

"Emma," Regina began cautiously. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Hook is here," Emma said. "I don't know how, but he is. He has Mary Margaret magically bound to his ship and I need you to teach me magic so I can get her out. Then, we can use the hat to get Hook out of town."

"Do you know how long it would take to teach you that kind of magic?" Regina asked. "Besides, apart from the hat, I haven't practiced magic in years."

"It wouldn't be that hard to teach me," Emma said. "Back when I was trapped in Fairytale Land, Cora tried to take my heart, but she couldn't. Some kind of magic force inside me stopped her. I already have magic in me, Regina, I just need you to help me bring it out so that I can use it."

"And you just need to learn how to break the spell keeping Mary Margaret on the ship?"

Emma nodded. "To start with, yeah."

"To start with?"

"I don't know what will happen once we free Mary Margaret," Emma said. "Hook will be pissed. Hopefully we can find a way to trick him into being sucked into the hat and transported away, but I don't know. I might need more magic. Can you help me?"

Regina looked at Emma for a while, deciding what to say. "Yes," she said finally. "I can teach you. Come back tomorrow morning after Henry goes to school, we'll start then."

"Thank you," Emma said. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

With that, she left.

Sighing, Regina stood where she was. She didn't want to bring magic back, not after it caused the people she loved so much pain. But she wanted redemption, and if she needed magic to get it, she was willing to do so.

Tired, she decided she had enough magic for the evening, and went upstairs to bed.

**-OUAT-**

Ruby walked through the door and was surprised to see Archie asleep in the living room. He was sitting up, like he had been waiting for her.

"Archie," Ruby said softly, trying to wake him without being too harsh about it.

Archie woke with a start anyway. "Ruby?" he asked. "Where have you been? Do you know what time it is?"

"I lost track of time," Ruby said. "I went to see Belle after work and then I had to help Emma. I'm sorry."

"What's wrong with Emma?"

"Snow got kidnapped," Ruby said.

"Oh my," Archie exclaimed. "By who?"

"Hook," Ruby replied. "Emma needed me to track Snow."

"Is she alright?"

"She's on Hook's ship," Ruby answered. "He cast a spell binding her to the ship. Emma is going to try to break it." She sat down next to Archie.

Archie considered this as he put an arm around Ruby. "And how are you doing?"

"I'm okay," Ruby said. "I'm worried about Snow, because for the first time I'm not totally sure that she'll be okay."

"She'll be okay, Ruby," Archie said. "You know Snow, she has a way of getting out of troublesome situations."

"Hook is dangerous, Archie," Ruby said.

"I know," Archie said. "But it never has seemed like a very good idea to bet against Snow and Emma."

"That's true," Ruby said. She yawned.

"Is Emma going to make you go out late at night very often?" Archie asked. "You seem exhausted."

"I am quite tired," Ruby admitted. Knowing that Archie was going to tell her she needed sleep, she kept talking. "I know, I need to get enough sleep now. Today was just a crazy day. It's just…Belle is in a coma and Snow was kidnapped. And on top of all that, Granny told us today that we might be able to stop the baby from being a wolf…it is all just a bit much."

"Well that's what I'm for," Archie said. "For when it gets to be too much, you have me."

Ruby grinned and leaned into Archie's shoulder. "Thank you." She sighed. "So what do you think about me turning?"

"I think that we don't know what will happen," Archie said. "We don't understand the wolf gene and how this works. For all we know, you need to turn in order for the baby to be healthy. You're the first wolf to have a hood, so we don't know what will happen if you don't turn."

"What's the worst that could happen, though?" Ruby asked.

"We don't know," Archie said. "But is that something we want to find out?"

"What if not turning is good?" Ruby said. "What if it really can stop the baby from being a wolf? It is better to not be a wolf than to be one."

"Is that our choice to make?" Archie asked. "Can we in good conscience make that choice for the baby?"

Ruby looked at him, honestly unsure. On the one hand, being a wolf could be very dangerous and destructive. On the other hand, Ruby knew that very few feelings compared to running in the moonlight in wolf form. "I don't know," she said.

They both sat in silence for a few moments, thinking.

"Isn't that our job as parents, though?" Ruby asked finally. "Isn't it our job to make choices that affect our child in the best possible way?"

"Usually, I would say yes. Of course," Archie said. "But we don't know how this will affect the baby. We can guess and hypothesize, but we truly do not know."

"What about you?" Ruby asked after another moment.

Archie looked at her funny. "What about me?"

"You were a cricket in our land," she said. "Will the baby be part cricket?"

Archie chuckled. "I don't think so. I was originally human. Besides, I'm human here and now, so I don't think the baby will be the least bit like a cricket."

"I hope it is like you, though," Ruby said. "I hope it gets your sense of right and wrong, though. And your honesty."

"I hope she gets your goodness," Archie replied. "And your innocence."

"She?" Ruby asked, grinning up at him.

Archie blushed. "Yeah. I hope she's a girl."

Ruby grinned. "I don't know, a boy wouldn't be so bad."

"Yes, of course," Archie said. "But I think I always imagined a miniature you running around."

Ruby grinned, then it fell when she thought again about what Archie said. "I'm not that innocent, though," she said. "I've killed people. I've hurt people, because of the wolf. And I truly think we should avoid letting our child go through that."

"You love running in wolf-form," Archie pointed out. "You don't want to have your child run with you one day?"

"This isn't about me," Ruby said. "It doesn't matter if I want to run with our child or not, what matters is that it might really be better for the baby not to be a wolf. So I think if we have a way to possibly avoid that, we should do it."

"I knew you'd say that," Archie said. "So this is what we're doing. You're not going to turn."

Ruby nodded.

"Okay," Archie said. "I'm glad we talked this out, Ruby."

"Me too," Ruby said. "But can we go to sleep now? I really am really tired."

Archie laughed. "Of course."

**-OUAT-**

Emma tiredly walked into the apartment. Stealthy came to greet her when she opened the door.

"Hey, Stealthy," she said as she bent down to pet the cat. The cat purred, as if telling Emma he was sad. "I know, I want Mary Margaret back too. But I'm going to get her back, Stealthy. Hook isn't going to win."

Emma put her coat on the hook and went back to her bedroom. She fell into bed, exhausted. She took her phone out of her pocket and noticed that she had three missed calls. They were all from Neal.

"Crap," Emma muttered. She wanted to get back on good terms with Neal, and ignoring his calls was not going to get her there. She checked to see if he left any voicemail messages or text messages, but he didn't.

"I'll call him in the morning," Emma promised herself out loud. It was too late at night to call him and she was too tired to argue or even just talk anyways.

She put her phone on the nightstand next to the bed and got under the covers. She turned out the light and went to sleep.

**-OUAT-**

Rumple sat beside Belle's bed, holding her hand.

"Hello, my beauty," Rumple said to her. "I'm sorry I left you alone for a bit today. I was talking to Bae. He helped me…understand this situation."

Rumple sighed. "Belle, I wanted to use magic to wake you up," he said. "I decided this in a moment of weakness because I am terrified of losing you. I need you and I love you. We're supposed to be married, Belle. I haven't felt this way about anyone ever before. You make me feel like I don't have to be a coward, like I don't need power and magic and control because I have your love and that is enough."

Rumple wiped a tear from his eye. "So you can take your time waking up. Don't rush, make sure you do it right. Whenever you wake up will be fine, as long as you do wake up. Of course, I would prefer if you wake up sooner rather than later, but I'm not going to try to force it with magic.

"Bae taught me an important lesson today. I think I always knew it, because I think you taught it to me first, but I didn't know I knew it until Bae put it into words. He said it was better to trust people than to trust magic. And he's right. And you were right. Magic can't help, magic only hurts, and I will not let it hurt you anymore."

Rumple leaned back and resigned himself to waiting. Belle spent so much of her life waiting: when Regina held her captive in the old land, when Regina held her captive in Storybrooke, when she waited for Rumple to gain the courage to open up to her. Now it was Rumple's turn to wait.

He didn't have to wait very long, though.

"Thank you," came a weak, Australian-accented voice from the hospital bed.

Rumple's head snapped up. "Belle," he said, not quite believing it. "You're awake? This isn't a dream?"

Belle smiled weakly. "No, no it isn't." Her voice was scratchy and distorted after not being used for several days, but it was the greatest sound Rumple had heard in a while.

He grabbed a glass of water from the table and handed it to Belle. "Here," he said. "Drink this."

Belle drank it cautiously. "Thank you," she said, her voice sounding better. "For the water…and for not using magic."

"I am sorry, Belle," Rumple said. "I am so sorry, for crashing the car, for even thinking about using magic."

"That boy," Belle said, suddenly remembering the accident more clearly. "The boy from the accident, is he okay?"

Rumple smiled and nodded. "He is," he said. "That boy was Baelfire."

"Baelfire?" Belle asked. "Your son? He's here?"

Rumple nodded. "He is. I don't know how, but he is."

"I can't wait to meet him," Belle said.

"I can't wait for you to meet him either," Rumple said. "But before then, how about I call a doctor in here to check on you."

Belle smiled and nodded, agreeing to this idea.

Rumple stood up and kissed Belle's forehead. "I'll be right back, dear," he said. He went outside the room and looked for the nearest doctor or nurse. "Doctor," he began once he found Belle's doctor. "Belle's awake."

**Tada! That was chapter 5. I hope y'all liked it. It took a while to write and I think this is the longest chapter (so far). Please leave a review and let me know what you think! What did you like? What did you not like? Did I get the characterization of everyone right? Please leave a review and let me know!**

**Thanks again for reading. :)**


	6. Chapter 6 Freedom

**Hey y'all. It's been a while since I've put up a new chapter; sorry it took so long! But yeah this is the new chapter and I really hope y'all like it. :D **

**Disclaimer: I own none of this.**

Chapter 6 Freedom

Regina snuck as quietly as she could up to the wooden door on the deck of the ship. She looked around a made sure no one was around.

Once she was sure that Hook wasn't around, or at the very least wasn't watching her, she began to try to use magic to open the door to the room Snow was in.

She tried a few times, but to no avail.

"Damn it," she muttered, disappointed that her magic couldn't work. "It has to be Emma," she said, realizing Hook's true plan.

With that, she left the boat.

**-OUAT-**

"You're recovering nicely," the doctor said to Belle. It had been a few days since she woke up and the doctors had been monitoring her closely. "Your brain is functioning normally now and it appears there won't be any lasting effects from the accident. You still had surgery to stop your internal bleeding and the incisions are still healing, so be careful."

"I will be," Belle promised, grinning. "I can leave the hospital soon, right?"

The doctor nodded. "I predict tomorrow or the next day we can release you."

Belle smiled wider. "Good."

Rumple squeezed Belle's hand and looked to the doctor. "Thank you," he said.

With that, the doctor left, leaving Belle and Rumple alone in the room.

Looking into Rumple's shining eyes, a memory struck Belle.

"_You're awake," Rumple said in shock and joy, even though Belle had been awake for nearly an hour by then. Once he alerted the doctors that Belle woke up, they spent a lot of time running tests and making sure she was healthy. "You're awake and you're alright."_

_Belle smiled. "I am."_

"_I missed you," Rumple said. "I was so scared, Belle."_

"_I'm not going anywhere," Belle replied. "I'm staying, remember?"_

_Rumple smiled and kissed his fiancée._

"_How are you, Rumple?" Belle asked._

_Rumple looked at her and laughed. Of course Belle is concerned with others more than herself even though she just came out of a coma._

"_I'm fine, dear," Rumple said. "Don't worry about me. Let's just focus on getting you out of here, okay? I know you hate hospitals."_

_Belle nodded. "I do," she admitted. "But it is okay because you're here. I know I'm safe with you, Rumple."_

_Rumple smiled, still overjoyed that Belle is okay and awake._

"_So Bae is here," Belle said._

"_He is."_

"_Is he staying with us?" Belle asked._

_Rumple looked surprised. "I…Right now he is staying at Granny's. Would you like him to stay with us?"_

"_Of course," Belle said. "He's your son! If he would like to stay with us, I would like to have him with us."_

_Rumple grinned. "Okay, I'll let him know."_

"_How old is he now?" Belle asked. "And where was he all this time?"_

"_He is still the age he was when he left," Rumple replied. "He was in a place called Neverland, where he never aged."_

"_How did he get to this world?"_

"_I don't know," Rumple said._

"_What if the storm was magic?" Belle asked. "He came the night of the storm, right? It seems ludicrous, but what if the storm was the magic that brought Bae here?"_

_Rumple contemplated this. "I don't know, dear. It could be possible."_

"_Who would have cast such a spell, though?" Belle asked. "You and Regina aren't practicing magic."_

"_Someone might have used it as a portal…" Rumple began, getting lost in thought. "And Bae may not have come alone." He got up. "I must speak with Emma."_

"_Okay," Belle said._

"_I'll call her and set up a time when I can meet her," Rumple said. "And I can call Ruby, too, and let her know you're okay and she can come stay with you while I'm out."_

"_Rumple, I don't need a babysitter," Belle said._

"_Belle, you just woke up from a coma," Rumple said. "You're in a hospital, which I know you hate even though you'll try to not be afraid of it. I'd feel better if you weren't alone right now, but I have to go talk to Emma. She can help figure this out."_

"_Okay," Belle replied, accepting this. "Good luck._

**-OUAT-**

"You still have not been rescued, eh?" Hook mocked Snow as he came into the room that held her captive. He took off her blindfold and dropped a plate of food on her lap, then unbound her hands. "Here."

"You've been disappearing for days now," Snow said. "I can tell by how quiet it is when you aren't on the boat, and you aren't on the ship often. Where have you been going?"

"That's the thing about pirates," Hook said. "We don't share, not even secrets. But don't worry, you'll know soon enough." He turned to leave.

"Why haven't you killed me?" Snow asked. "If you want to hurt Emma, that'd be the way to do it." She was absolutely willing to sacrifice herself to keep Emma safe.

Hook turned. "This isn't about you," he began. "This is between me and Emma, you're only an unintended casualty." He turned to walk out the door but stopped. "Besides, I have my own plan for how to deal with Swan."

With that he left, leaving Snow alone in the room with only her growing panic.

_Please be safe, Emma,_ Snow thought to herself. She was very rarely scared when her own life was on the line, but the very mention of hurting her family would send fear straight into Snow's heart.

**-OUAT-**

Emma was in Regina's home, facing the basement with intense concentration.

"Come on Emma, open the loc," Regina encouraged her. "I thought you were good at breaking into places you shouldn't be in."

"Break in is easy," Emma said. "Magic-ing in…not so much."

"This is easy, though," Regina countered. Over the past few days Emma had learned a lot about magic. She could move small things like books and could open unlocked doors, but could not get the lock open.

"I thought this would be simple," Emma said. "Just, like, point and poof."

Regina rolled her eyes. "Magic is an art, a craft. It takes years of training."

"And we only have days," Emma said.

Regina sighed. "Magic is always harder when doing something that shouldn't be done. Books can be magically moved because books are meant to be picked up and transported. Locks are only meant to be opened with keys, so it is harder to use magic on them."

"So, what, should I pretend my magic is a key?"

"If it helps," Regina said. "Whatever works for you."

Emma sighed. "Why can't you free her? Your magic is so much greater than mine. You can free her and we can take on Hook together."

"I can't," Regina replied. "I've done some research; Hook cast a very specific spell. He made it so that only you can free her."

Emma groaned. "Of course he did." She turned back to the door and tried a few more times to unlock the door, but it was not working.

"Let's take a break," Regina said, earning a look from Emma. "You've been here every waking moment that you aren't at work or the apartment. Don't overwork yourself."

Emma begrudgingly agreed and followed Regina into the kitchen for lunch.

While they were in the kitchen, Emma's phone rang. "Hello?" she said. "Gold, hi. How's Belle? …Really? That's great. …Yeah, I can meet you. Seven o' clock at your store? …Yeah that sounds fine, I'll see you then. Bye."

Regina looked up at Emma quizzically. "Gold wants to meet with you again?"

Emma nodded. "Yeah. He wants me to talk to Bae about how he got here. He could help us figure everything out."

"Then let's hurry this up and get back to work so you can get there on time," Regina said.

**-OUAT-**

"Knock, knock," came a voice from the doorway to Belle's hospital room.

Belle and Rumple looked up.

"Hi, Ruby!" Belle said.

"Ruby," Rumple greeted her with a nod.

"Hey," Ruby said. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," Belle said.

"I have to go stop by the store and pick up some paperwork," Rumple said. He looked to Belle. "I'll be back soon, love."

"Take your time," Ruby answered for Belle. "I'll keep an eye on her."

"Thank you," Rumple said, then walked past Ruby and left.

Ruby sat down next to Belle's bed and extended her arm out to her, giving her a brown paper bag. "Here," she said. "I've heard bad things about hospital food, so I brought you some food from the diner."

Belle smiled. "Thank you." They sat quietly for a few moments. "What's bothering you?"

Ruby made a face. "Who said something is bothering me?"

Belle responded with a no-nonsense look. "Ruby, I know you. You being quiet means there is something bothering you. When you were here the other day, you were bouncing off the floors."

"Bouncing off the _walls_," Ruby corrected, grinning.

Belle rolled her eyes. "So what's wrong?"

"_You're okay?" Ruby asked tentatively as she walked into Belle's hospital room the night she woke up._

"_Yes, I'm doing well," Belle said, smiling._

_Ruby sat next to Belle. "Did Gold leave already?"_

_Belle nodded. "Yeah, actually just a few moments before you came in. I don't know how you missed him."_

"_Weird," Ruby replied. "But how do you feel?"_

_Belle laughed a little. "A bit like I was in a car accident and a coma."_

_Ruby exhaled loudly. "Not funny. That was actually terrifying."_

"_Sorry," Belle said. "But you guys had to have known I wasn't going anywhere. I told Rumple long ago that I'm staying, so there is no way a measly car accident would make me leave."_

_Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Wow. Okay." She laughed nervously. "So I've never done this before, I've never seen someone after they came out of a coma. So I'm not totally sure how to do this."_

"_Me neither," Belle said. She laughed too._

"_How about we just talk?" Ruby suggested. "Just have a normal conversation and try to put this all behind us."_

"_That sounds wonderful," Belle said. "Speaking of wonderful, how are you and Archie?"_

_Ruby smiled. "We're good. We're excited about everything, the baby and the wedding."_

"_Wedding?"_

"_Archie proposed," Ruby said excitedly._

"_Ruby!" Belle exclaimed. "Congratulations!"_

_With that, they continued in merry chatter, as they always had done so easily. Belle was grateful for the distraction from the monotony of the hospital and Ruby was glad to see Belle awake and smiling._

Ruby pulled herself out of the memory and answered Belle's question.

"Granny heard a theory that if I don't turn during wolfstime, the wolf gene will skip the baby or be dormant," Ruby said. "And tonight is the full moon."

"Oh," Belle said. "What are you going to do?"

"Archie and I spoke and decided that I'll use the hood and not turn," Ruby said.

"You know you don't have to be ashamed of what you are," Belle said. "You aren't a monster, and your baby won't be one."

"I know," Ruby replied. "But being a wolf is a curse more often than it is a gift. So we want to avoid it as much as possible."

"But you're scared anyway?"

Ruby nodded. "Yes. I'm the first wolf we know of who has the hood and who has the option to not turn, so we don't know what will happen. It is just a hypothesis, an educated guess that the hood will have an effect."

"But clearly you think that guess has some merit to it," Belle said. "Otherwise you wouldn't consider it."

Ruby nodded in agreement. "I know. I'm comfortable with the decision we made, but it is still scary."

"Don't worry so much, Ruby," Belle said. "It'll be okay. You made the decision after weighing all the options, so you've done all you can."

"I know," Ruby said. She sighed. "Sorry, I think the hormones are getting the best of me, I'm not making too much sense."

"It's fine," Belle laughed assuredly.

Ruby looked at her watch. "I actually have to leave soon," she said. "I have a doctor's appointment but I wanted to drop off food for you before I went."

"Okay," Belle said. "Well, I should be out of here tomorrow or the next day so I'll see you after then."

"Alrighty," Ruby said, gathering her things and leaving. "Bye!"

"Bye!" Belle responded.

**-OUAT-**

"Peter Pan!"

Bae turned angrily and walked briskly towards Hook, keeping his voice low but still angry. "Don't call me that here. Here my name is Baelfire."

"What are you doing at the hospital?" Hook asked. They were standing outside the hospital, Bae was about to walk in when Hook called him.

"Not that it is any of your business," Bae replied. "But I am visiting my…" he didn't know what exactly to call Belle, but decided on something quickly. "Step-mother."

"Step-mother?" Hook asked. "Your father is married again?"

"Not quite," Bae said. "But soon."

"Interesting," Hook said.

"Hook, what do you want?" Bae asked, growing impatient.

"Oh, right," Hook said. "Remember I said I was here for the Swan girl, the one who left me with the giant?"

"Yes…" Bae said cautiously.

"She is taking too long in this game of cat and mouse, so I've changed my mind," Hook said. "It is the honorable thing to do to give you fair warning, so here it is: I'm coming after your father and you can't stop me. He is the real reason why I came."

"You can't do that!" Bae yelled.

"Hey," Hook said sternly, poking his hook out of his sleeve and placing it menacingly on Bae's chest. "If you scream, I will kill you."

Bae lowered his voice, but was still absolutely furious. He spoke quickly and tensely. "You can't hurt him, you said you wouldn't. You said you weren't here from him. I thought you let go of this stupid grudge!"

"This stupid grudge?!" Hook asked. "Do you even know why I hate your father so much?"

Bae just looked at him, lacking a sufficient answer. He honestly didn't know.

"Your father killed the woman I loved," Hook said. "He took her heart and crushed it right in front of me."

"He's different now," Bae said. "This world is different. He won't do that here, he isn't a coward anymore."

"Oh, I'm counting on it," Hook said. "I want a fight, and I'm going to get one. I want to see him fight for what he wants; it'll make it so much more rewarding to kill him that way."

"You can't kill him!" Bae said. "He is my father!"

"He killed your mother," Hook said. "She got sick of his cowardice and the life he made her live, so she came with me when my ship docked near your village. Rumplestiltskin found out and took her heart out of her chest and crushed it right in front of us."

"You're lying," Bae said, shocked.

"I am not," Hook said. "And you know I'm not! You know there is a reason why your mother isn't here and you know that whatever story your father told you about how she died was a lie!"

Bae stood there, near tears and unsure of what to say. When the conversation began he was so determined to protect his father, but now he wasn't so sure.

Hook took his hook off of Bae and took a step back. "You've been warned," Hook said. He hid his hook in his sleeve again and turned to leave, leaving Bae behind looking scared and confused.

**-OUAT-**

"There," the doctor said to Ruby and Archie, pointing at the sonogram screen. "That's your baby."

Ruby let out a surprised and happy little laugh while Archie said "Wow," in a low, astounded voice. He leaned in and kissed Ruby's forehead.

"This is your first appointment, right?" the doctor asked. Doctor Whale had died after the curse was broken, and now Doc had stepped up as town doctor. When the curse broke he didn't want to go back to the mines with the other dwarves, so Snow and Charming helped him get a job in the hospital..

"Yes," Ruby replied, nodding.

"So I can tell you that you are very early in this," Doc replied. "Only about five weeks or so."

"Oh, wow," Ruby said. "I thought it was further along." She looked up at Archie. "We told people already."

"It should be okay, though," the doctor assured them. "People usually wait to tell people until the first trimester is over, which is still two months or so away. But it doesn't look like there is anything to worry about, both mom and baby look healthy. But Ruby, I know you are a wolf, and tonight is a full moon."

"Yes," Ruby said. "We've researched and learned a theory that if I don't turn, the wolf gene will skip the baby."

"Okay," Doc said. "Unfortunately, I do not know much more about this than you do. I've done research but this seems to be a rarely written about topic. So, you should make the choices on this. If something seems good, do it. If anything feels wrong, call me."

"Thank you," Ruby said.

Doc smiled, accepting the thanks. "Do either of you have any questions?"

"I don't," Ruby said. She looked up at Archie expectantly, who shook his head.

"Okay," Doc said. "So you two are all set. Ruby, you can get dressed and then make an appointment with reception out front for next month, when we can hear the heartbeat."

Doc turned to leave, but Archie stopped him.

"Doc," Archie called. "Sorry, but could we see the baby again?"

"Sure," Doc conceded, smiling knowingly.

Doc went back and turned the machine back on, putting a picture of the baby back on the screen.

Ruby and Archie again smiled in joyous wonderment.

Archie leaned in to kiss Ruby's forehead again. "I love you, Ruby," he said against her temple.

Ruby smiled and kissed Archie's hand, which she had been holding through the appointment. "I love you, too."

**-OUAT-**

Bae walked into the police station, nearly shaking from all the emotions he was feeling.

"Sheriff Swan!" he called, walking through the station.

Emma popped up from behind her desk. "Hey, Bae," she said. She got a good look at him. "Are you alright?"

"Hook," Bae said. "He's going to hurt Rumplestiltskin."

"_So Rumplestiltskin is your dad," Emma asked Bae as they sat in Regina's kitchen._

"_Yes," Bae replied._

"_Hmmm," Emma said, thinking this over._

_Regina, however, carried on with the questioning. "So how did you get here, Bae?"_

"_I was in Neverland," he said. "I saw that Hook was preparing to leave, so I snuck onto his ship. He left everyone behind; he was the only one on the ship. I thought he would have brought Smee, but he didn't."_

"_Smee…" Emma said. Suddenly she remembered. "He's here. Charming told me about him, he kidnapped Belle right after the curse broke and tried to get her to cross the line."_

"_What'd Charming do to him?" Regina asked._

"_He arrested him, but he got out," Emma said. "He laid low and I don't think anyone has heard from him since."_

"_He must have been in our land when we cast the curse," Regina said. "He must have been looking for Rumplestiltskin."_

"_Hook didn't say he was looking for Papa, though," Bae added. "Once we got here and saw each other, he said he was coming for someone who was here who left him in a bad way with a giant."_

"_Right," Emma said. "That would be me."_

"_Do you remember anything about the ship before it came here?" Regina asked. "Was there purple smoke?"_

"_Yes," Bae said. "And he was the only one there, aside from me, so he must have made the magic himself."_

_Regina turned to Emma. "Why did he go to Neverland, though? He was here when we last saw him, why did he go back to Neverland?"_

"_After Cora died, maybe he knew he didn't have a chance here," Emma said. Regina had killed Cora when she and Hook came to Storybrooke. Cora threatened Henry and Regina did not hesitate to kill her. That was the last time Henry saw Regina use magic._

"_Perhaps," Regina said. "But how did he get back to Neverland?"_

"_He has magic," Emma said. "He knows how to use it. He must have found a way. It must take a lot of magic to overcome the curse, though, so he probably messed up somehow and got trapped in Neverland. He probably only recently figured out how to get back in despite the curse."_

_Regina turned to Bae. "Why did you go on the ship?"_

"_He hates me because he hates my father," Bae said. "I guessed that he might be after my father, so I thought going with him would be my only chance to see him again."_

_Regina and Emma exchanged a look._

"_Don't worry about Hook," Emma said. "If he is here for me, I can handle him. Thank you for the information, but we can handle him from here."_

"_You should go get back to your father," Regina said. "I know he missed you."_

"_Thank you," Bae said._

"I thought he was here for me," Emma said.

"He changed his mind," Bae said. "He said you were taking too long, so he's decided to go after Rumplestiltskin."

"Do you know where he went?" Emma asked.

Bae shook his head.

"Do you know where Rumplestiltskin is?"

"At the hospital still," Bae said.

"I'll send Charming over to warn him and protect him," Emma said. "I'll go take care of Hook. This has gone on for too long."

Bae stood there, accepting this but still clearly in shock.

"Hey," Emma said softly, coming out from behind her desk and giving Bae a comforting hug. "It'll be okay. I won't let him hurt your father."

_I don't know for sure that I don't want him to,_ Bae thought to himself, but said nothing.

"How about I drop you off at my apartment," Emma said. "My son is there and he is about your age. He can keep you company."

"Okay," Bae said.

**-OUAT-**

"Gold," Charming called to Rumplestiltskin as he walked into the hospital. Rumple was sitting in the lobby, clearly waiting.

"Prince Charming," Rumple replied. "I wasn't expecting to see you here. I'm just down here waiting for my son, he said he'd meet me down here."

"He isn't coming," Charming replied.

"What?" Rumple asked. "Is he alright?"

"Hook is here," Charming said. "He told Bae he is coming after you, so we put Bae somewhere safe and now we are trying to protect you."

"Hook is here," Rumple said to himself, then spoke up. "Bring me to Bae. Let me see him!"

"I can't," Charming replied. Seeing that Rumple was about to get very angry, he spoke quickly before Rumple could yell. "He didn't want to see you!"

Rumple was taken aback. He spoke shakily. "How can we stop Hook?"

"Emma is working on it," Charming replied. "He has Snow, so Emma is going to free her then get Hook."

"What can I do?" Rumple asked.

"Lay low," Charming said. "I'm going to pull some strings and see if we can get Belle released tomorrow morning, you two will be much safer at your house than here."

"So that's it?" Rumple asked. "We just let Hook do this?"

"No," Charming replied. "Emma and I will take care of this, but you have to lay low. If Hook can find you, he can hurt you and he can hurt Belle. Prioritize; what is more important to you: Belle or your hatred?"

Rumple was silent.

"Go home," Charming said. "You are safer there. I'll talk to Belle."

Rumple begrudgingly agreed.

**-OUAT-**

Emma dropped Bae off at her apartment and immediately dialed Regina's phone number.

"Regina, meet me at the ship," Emma said. "We're ending this tonight."

"Emma, you aren't ready yet," Regina tried to reason.

"If we let this go any further, Hook will hurt more people!" Emma said. "This ends tonight. I'm going to the ship, even if you won't."

She hung up and went to the ship.

**-OUAT-**

"Hello David," Belle said as Charming walked in.

"Belle, please, you can call me James or Charming. Everyone else does."

"Okay," Belle said. "Are you here as friend or former sheriff?"

Charming sighed. "A bit of both. There is a man here who is an enemy of Rumplestiltskin. He wants to hurt him, but we won't let him. To be safe, you are going to be released tomorrow morning and you two are going to stay in your house. I'm going to put a protective detail on your house. Emma and Regina are tracking this man, Hook, down now."

"Why are they fighting for Rumple?" She wasn't stupid, she knew that, even though people had warmed up to Rumple a lot, it would be understandable if they didn't want to risk their lives for him.

"Because they care," Charming said. "And they know Hook needs to be stopped. He kidnapped Snow."

"I'm sorry," Belle said. "What can I do?"

"Just stay healthy and stay safe," Charming replied. "I told Rumplstiltskin to go home, so he won't be back until tomorrow to take you home."

"Okay," Belle replied.

"If you need anything, here is my phone number," he said, handing Belle a slip of paper.

"Thank you," Belle said. "For all of this."

Charming nodded, then turned to leave.

**-OUAT-**

Emma kicked down the door to Snow's room on the ship, not caring how much noise she made. She wanted Hook to show up so that she could finally end this.

"Emma, calm down," Regina said. "Be smart about this."

"Emma?" came Snow's voice from inside the room.

"I'm going to get you out, Mary Margaret," Emma said. "Stand back."

Emma looked at the door with intense concentration. After a few tense moments, there was a puff of purple smoke.

In the room, Snow could feel her ties loosening. She freed her hands and took off her blindfold. Cautiously, she walked out of the room and toward Emma.

"Emma!" she said. "You got me out! You saved me."

Emma accepted the hug from her mother, but quickly backed out of it.

"Regina, take her home please," Emma said. "I'm going to wait here for Hook."

"Emma, don't be ridiculous," Regina said.

"Emma," Snow chastised. "You're coming home. You freed me, Hook hasn't hurt anyone, you can handle him tomorrow. We can put together a proper plan and go about this smartly."

"Regina," Emma repeated.

"I'm not leaving here without you," Regina said. "Your mother is right, we need a plan."

"Thank you," Snow said to Regina. She turned back to Emma. "Emma, listen to us. You can't stay here for Hook, we need a plan."

Emma's intensity lessened a bit. "I just want to stop him, so he can't hurt anyone again."

"I know," Snow said. "Let's go home and talk about it."

With that, they got off the boat and went home.

**Hey guys. So that is this chapter. The ending is kind of weak, so I apologize, but I have a lot! planned for the next chapter, so look forward to that!**

**Also, please leave a review if you can! Please let me know what you like and don't like so that I can make this story the best it can be.**


	7. Chapter 7 The Question of Safety

**Hey guys. I am so sorry it has taken me so long to update, things have been crazy.**

**Here is the next chapter!**

****IMPORTANT NOTE** This is AU after 2x10, with slight differences from what happened in that ep. I think it still makes sense though.**

****OTHER IMPORTANT NOTE** ****This chapter is set entirely in the past.**** Like this whole chapter is a flashback. And there aren't any flashbacks in the flashback, because that is just too busy and complicated and we'll all get confused. But yeah, this is set pretty much after 2x10, which is approximately 2.5 or so years before the rest of this story is set. This is going to be like a belated holiday fic, too, because I meant to post it as one but got distracted but yeah now here it is. :D**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 7 The Question of Safety

Emma and Henry were sitting in the kitchen alone, silently eating breakfast. Henry was still very upset that Regina killed Archie. Charming and Snow were out at the sheriff station, keeping an eye on Regina and trying to gather evidence. Suddenly, there was a lot of knocking on the front door.

Puzzled, Emma looked to Henry. "Did you invite someone over?"

Henry shook his head. "No."

"Stay here," Emma said, cautiously getting up and going to the door. She looked through the peephole and relaxed. "Belle," she said, slightly surprised. "Is everything alright?"

"Sorry to intrude, but Rumple needs to see you," Belle said.

"What happened?" Emma asked, grabbing her coat.

"He doesn't think Regina killed Archie," Belle said. "He thinks it was Cora. He thinks she came here somehow."

"What?" Henry asked, appearing behind Emma.

"Come on, Rumple will explain in his shop," Belle said.

With that, they left and headed for Rumplestiltskin's shop.

**-OUAT-**

"What'd you see?" Emma asked, walking into the shop.

"Actually, Miss Lucas first noticed it," Rumple said. "Belle and I were reviewing Pongo's memories and Miss Lucas walked in and noticed Pongo behaving weirdly."

"He was distressed," Ruby said. "Disturbed, even. The same way wolves get around dark magic."

"So, what, Pongo sensed dark magic?" Emma asked.

Ruby nodded. "I think so."

"Regina has dark magic, though," Emma said. "Magic was killed to use Archie, it is in the memories."

"Yes, but Pongo barked as soon as Regina walked through the door," Rumple said. "We looked at some other memories, and he has never barked like that at her before. There had to have been dark magic already in use when this person walked through the door. And this dark magic could have been a disguise."

"You are the only other one with dark magic," Emma said, losing patience.

"Not exactly," Rumple said. "I believe Cora is here."

"I know," Emma said. "Belle told us. I don't see the connection between Pongo barking and Cora being here. How would she even get here?"

"Hook has a ship," Rumple said, hatred clearly in his tone when he spoke that name. "He also has magic. Combined, he and Cora must be so powerful that they can easily move between worlds."

"Why wouldn't they have done that before, though?" Emma asked. "Why go through all the trouble of trying to go through the well when they could have gone themselves?"

"They wanted to strand you and Snow there," Rumple said. "And the most likely didn't know they had power like they did until they truly needed it."

"How do we find her?" Henry spoke up. Emma looked at him, not quite believing everything that was going on. Henry turned to her directly. "If she did this, it wasn't Regina. But we can't free Regina until we catch her, because if we do she'll know we know she did it."

"He's right," Ruby added.

"I have a feeling Hook will find me," Rumple said. "Perhaps I can use him to get to Cora."

"Can you fight off Hook?" Emma asked.

"Yes, I can," Rumple replied grumpily. "I may not match his physical fighting abilities, but I can outwit him. Outwitting people is kind of my thing."

Belle scoffed and Ruby rolled her eyes.

"As for Cora," Rumple added, ignoring Belle and Ruby, "I think we should let Snow and Charming in on this little discovery. They can help formulate a plan."

"What, you won't help them?" Emma asked, almost angrily.

"I will," Rumple said. "But Hook is my priority. "He wants revenge on me, and to do that he will hurt the person I…" he cut himself off, stopping himself from raising his voice too high and revealing too much emotion. After a moment and a breath, he spoke again, softer this time. "He will hurt the person I love most. The only person who matters to me here. If I take care of Hook before you finish with Cora, I will help you. But Hook is my priority."

Emma looked from Rumple to Belle, then back to Rumple. "Okay," she said. "Protecting your loved ones. I get it. I'll go to Snow and Charming and we'll figure this out."

She turned and left, taking Henry with her.

"So Archie is alive?" Ruby asked Rumple.

He looked up at her. "Possibly."

"That's better than nothing," Ruby reasoned. "How do we find him?"

"I'm not sure," Rumple said. "But I do know one thing. Pirates tend to keep their stolen goods on their ships."

Ruby nodded, understanding. "So we have to find his ship."

"That's assuming he took the ship here," Belle pointed out. "And if he did, there is really only one place to keep a ship."

Rumple nodded in agreement. "The docks."

**-OUAT-**

Emma walked into the sheriff station. "David?" she called. "Mary Margaret?"

Emma walked around the station, looking for her parents but not finding them in the lobby, the bullpen, or the office.

"Henry, wait in the office," Emma said, fearing the worst – that Mary Margaret and David had already been taken and hurt.

Henry did as he was told. Emma heard a sound come from the supply closet and drew her gun.

She quietly went over to the door and whipped it open, pointing her gun right at whoever was inside causing the noise.

And the people inside happened to be a shirtless David and a disheveled-looking Mary Margaret.

"Emma!" Mary Margaret exclaimed.

"Oh my god," Emma said. "Again? At the house, I kind of get but at the office?"

Mary Margaret blushed and David had the decency to look ashamed.

"Put your clothes on and come to the office," Emma said. "We need to talk."

"Why?" David asked. "What happened?"

"We're not talking until you're clothed," Emma said, stepping away and closing the closet door.

A minute later, Mary Margaret and David walked into the office.

"What's going on?" David asked.

"Gold thinks Cora is here, with Hook," Emma explained, standing behind the desk.

"Why does he think that?" Mary Margaret asked.

"He and Ruby looked at more of Pongo's memories," Emma said. "Ruby noticed that Pongo reacted like there was dark magic, and since Regina doesn't use magic as soon as she walks into the room, we think Pongo was reacting to the magic used as a disguise. A disguise for Cora."

"So we would all blame Regina?" Mary Margaret asked. "Why would she do that? Her whole thing is to help Regina become more powerful. This takes her power."

Emma shrugged. "Maybe she wants Regina isolated and alienated from everyone."

David took this in. "That could make sense. That might make her turn to Cora when Cora revealed herself to Regina."

"What about Hook?" Mary Margaret asked. "Where does he fit in to this?"

"His ship can sail between worlds, when aided with a little magic," Emma said. "And he took Aurora's heart, so we know he has magic. Paired with Cora's magic, there is little they can't do."

"So how are we going to approach this?" David asked

"Hook came for Rumplestiltskin, plain and simple," Emma said. "I mean, he may be pissed at me too but Gold was always his top priority. So, Gold is going to handle him and we're going to take Cora."

"We need Regina," Mary Margaret said.

Emma nodded. "I agree."

"Well, there isn't any time to waste," Mary Margaret said. "Let's talk to her."

They all went to walk out the door, but Emma stopped them.

"I think Mary Margaret and I can handle this one," she said. "With four people it may feel like an ambush, and I think Mary Margaret and I know her best. I think we have the best shot of getting her to cooperate."

David clearly was not pleased, but he understood. He stayed back in the office with Henry.

Emma and Mary Margaret cautiously approached the cell Regina was in. Regina got up to stand on her side of the bars, while Emma and Mary Margaret stood on theirs.

"Well, well," Regina said. "Look who decided to step off her throne to come see me. And Miss Swan, it is always a pleasure."

Mary Margaret stopped herself from rolling her eyes and Emma spoke up.

"Look, there isn't much time to waste so we're just going to cut to the chase," she said. "We know you didn't kill Archie."

"No kidding," Regina said.

"We think Cora killed him."

This got Regina's attention. "How can that be?" she asked, dropping the sarcastic, angry tone and adopting one of genuine concern and fear. Her eyes flicked from the office – where she knew Henry was – back to Emma and Snow. "She is here?"

Emma nodded and explained the story.

"So you think she framed me for murder?" Regina said. She wanted to say that she wouldn't do that, that her mother cared about her, but she couldn't with a straight face. The evidence against her was too much.

"I know this is a lot to take in," Mary Margaret spoke up. "And we really are sorry for the trouble we've put you through in here. But we think she's going to strike soon, and we can't let her. There are too many people we care about here."

"We have to defeat her," Emma said.

Regina nodded. "I know." She sighed. "But how do we do that?"

"Cora is powerful," Snow said. "If we pit you against her there's no telling who would win. But if we let her believe that you two aren't fighting, it would be much easier."

"So I should betray her?" Regina asked, her voice catching. She wasn't exactly known for her morals in Storybrooke, but she really was conflicted.

"Regina, she already betrayed you," Emma pointed out. "And this is about so much more than the two of you now. She could hurt Henry."

Instantly any doubt Regina had went away. "Okay."

"So here's what I think we should do," Snow said, going into planning mode. "We fake your escape. Let Cora think you got out. If she thinks you got out, she'll come looking. So, we let her. She will inevitably have a big attack on us planned, so right when she is about to strike you get to her first."

"And by 'get to her first' you mean kill her," Regina asked.

"If it comes to that…" Snow trailed off.

Regina sighed. "Okay," she said. "Stand back, I'm going to use magic to get out of here."

"Could you have done that the whole time?" Emma asked.

Regina disappeared into a puff of purple smoke before answering.

**-OUAT-**

Rumple, Belle, and Ruby were on the docks, looking for the ship.

"I don't mean to point out the obvious," Rumple said. "But I don't see a ship."

Belle ignored him, scouring the dock in an attempt to see anything that wasn't blaringly obvious.

"That's weird," Ruby said. "I am picking up Archie's scent."

Belle turned to look at her. "That's weird," she said. "I thought if you didn't have something they owned, you could only catch the scents of people you knew really well?" She had a slight smirk on her face. Ruby shot her a look. "Right, not a good time."

"He's definitely here," Ruby said. "His scent was at the cemetery, too, though. Though this is stronger." She turned to Rumple. "If Cora could disguise herself, she could disguise someone else to look like Archie, right?"

Rumple nodded. "In theory, yes."

"That still means she killed someone else, though," Belle acknowledged.

"We'll leave that up to the sheriff to sort out," Rumple said.

Belle continued to look. She looked up and saw something curious – there were seagulls that appeared to be standing on air.

Belle took a handful of sand from the box on the dock and tossed it near the ground below where the birds stood.

"Aha," Belle said, smiling with accomplishment.

"Of course," Rumple said. "It is invisible."

"Let's go," Belle said, stepping onto the stairs to board the ship.

"Belle," Rumple said. "Should you go first?"

Belle gave him a stern look. "It is fine, Rumple. I can handle anything on this boat." She stepped onto the ship, followed by Rumple and Ruby.

"Whoa," Ruby said as she stepped on. Suddenly the whole ship appeared in front of her, no longer invisible.

"Archie would be hidden below deck," Belle said. "Ruby, you and I can go get him. Rumple, do you want to stay up here and look around? Maybe there is something up here to tell us where he is."

"What, like a map?" Rumple asked.

Belle gave him another stern look.

"I'll look around," Rumple said.

Belle and Ruby headed down the stairs.

They walked into the room with the hold and heard a voice call out "Hello?!"

"Over here," Ruby said, leading Belle to a compartment in the hold. She opened it hastily.

"Ruby?"

"Archie!" Ruby said. "You're okay!" She cut the ropes tying him to the ship and helped him up.

"Thank you," Archie said. "Thank you too, Belle."

"It was nothing," Belle said. "But you two should leave. I want to stay here with Rumple but you two should go. I'm sure Archie's had enough of this ship."

"Are you sure?" Ruby said. "I can stay."

Belle shook her head. "If Hook comes looking for a fight, it is between him and Rumple. I'm going to be here for Rumple, and I don't want anyone else to get hurt."

They heard footsteps above and could tell they weren't Rumple's.

"Go," Belle said. "Hurry."

Ruby and Archie complied, hurrying upstairs to get off the ship and get to safety.

Belle, meanwhile, looked around the hold for anything useful. After a few minutes, she found a sword. _Well, it's been a while since I've had one of these_, she thought to herself, _and it definitely isn't as good as Mulan's, but f I need it this will have to do._

She took the sword and headed upstairs very quietly. When she got to the deck, she saw Hook and Rumple standing there. There was no sign of Ruby or Archie, so she assumed they got off safely.

Belle stood near the stairs to below deck, while Hook stood about twenty feet in front of her, facing Rumple, who was about ten feet beyond Hook.

"Well," Hook said, "this must be my lucky day. I get to skin myself the crocodile I always wanted."

"You can't kill me," Rumple said. "You are not equipped to. Besides, I have magic here."

"Oh Rumplestilskin," Hook said. "So quick to hide behind magic. I'm sure you can tell, I've brought some magic of my own. I can take hearts. You should know a bit something about that."

"Don't you dare bring her up," Rumple said angrily. "You stole her away. You took my wife from me, you took my son's mother!"

"She preferred me!" Hook said. "She chose me. She loved me." He stepped towards Rumple, rapidly shortening the distance between them. "And you killed her. You took her heart out right in front of me." He laughed. "And _I'm_ the villain in this situation?"

"You're right," Rumple said with calm rage. "I'm not going to hide behind magic today." He picked up his cane and started to beat Hook with it.

Seeing this, Belle knew she had to put a stop to it. "Rumple!" she yelled, hurrying towards the two men. "Stop!"

Hook managed to look up at her. He looked back to Rumple, smirking. "Oh, brought your girlfriend, have you?"

With a flick of his wrist, Hook magically sent Belle flying toward the edge of the boat.

"Belle!" Rumple cried out.

**-OUAT-**

"I thought I'd find you here," Regina said, walking into the mayor's office.

Cora turned. "I see you've been sprung from prison."

Regina nodded. "I made it look like someone broke me out while the sheriffs were out. They don't know I have magic."

"Good," Cora said. "I'm glad to see you caught on to my plan so quickly."

Regina swallowed, trying to suppress her feelings of disgust toward her mother. "It was smart," she managed to say. "They won't catch on until it is too late."

"Of course it is smart," Cora said. "It was my plan. We may not be able to have you rule back in our land, but we can get you to rule here. Now that there is magic here, there is nothing we can't do. You'll be the queen I always aspired for you to be."

"How are we going to do that?"

"I've developed a spell that will allow me to take the hearts of large amounts of people at once without having the physically remove a heart from each person," Cora said.

Regina looked astounded. "How?"

"I'm the Queen of Hearts, dear," Cora reasoned.

"When will we do this?" Regina asked.

"I've been in town for a few days now, laying low and figuring out what will cause the most problems," Cora said. "I've taken care of everything except that Swan girl. Her heart can't be taken."

This was news to Regina. "How do we get around that?"

"We save her for last," Cora said. "If we take the hearts of everyone else she cares for here, we can use them to coerce her into doing what we want."

Regina nodded. "Ingenious," she forced herself to say.

"Anyway," Cora said. "We'll do this tonight."

"Tonight?" Regina asked. "Isn't that…soon?"

"They'll come looking for you," Cora said, like it was obvious. "The sooner we strike, the sooner we take power."

"Of course," Regina said.

"We need to get to a high point above town," Cora said. "I propose the roof of the library."

"What about Rumplestiltskin?" Regina asked. "He is usually there."

"Hook is taking care of him," Cora said. "Come, we should go."

Regina nodded, and followed her mother.

**-OUAT-**

"So we just wait?" Henry asked.

"I'm afraid so, kid," Emma replied. "We're trying to keep his under wraps from the people in town so they don't freak out, so we have to act like everything is normal and no one will get suspicious."

"Snow," Charming said quietly to his wife. "Is it really smart to leave our fate in the hands of Regina and Rumplestiltskin?"

"Do you have a better idea?" Snow asked.

"No, but these two historically are not the most trustworthy," Charming said.

"Emma is an excellent judge of character," Snow said. "And she's smart. If this is the best plan she can come up with, we should go with it."

"I can hear you," Emma said, turning to Snow and Charming. "I guess this savior thing never stops, huh?"

"Sorry," Snow offered.

Emma shrugged. "You fight to save the ones you love, right?" she said while ruffling Henry's hair.

**-OUAT-**

"I'm okay," Belle called to Rumple.

"Stay back, lass," Hook called. "This isn't your fight."

"Do not speak to her!" Rumple yelled, hitting Hook again with his cane.

"Kill me, you coward!" Hook yelled angrily at Rumple. "Do what you always have done, solve your problems with murder!"

"Rumple!" Belle called, managing to get up and come towards him. "Stop!"

"Belle, stay back!"

"You're a coward, Crocodile!" Hook bellowed. "Just finish this! Kill me like you killed her! Then I'll finally be back with her!"

Rumple dropped his cane and reached for Hook's heart.

"No!" Belle yelled, pulling Rumple back. "You are better than this! Do not kill him!"

"He deserves to die!" Rumple yelled.

"Does he?" Belle reasoned. "Killing him won't bring back your wife and it won't bring back Bae!"

"Are you sure you want to defend him, love?" Hook asked Belle. "Everyone who loves him ends up lost or dead."

Rumple, enraged, was about to go for Hook's heart again, but Belle stopped him.

"You aren't him anymore," Belle said, quickly but still trying to calm Rumple. "You aren't the man who does that. You aren't anymore."

"Belle…" Rumple said, wanting desperately to be the man Belle wants him to be but also wanting so badly to have his revenge on Hook.

While Rumple and Belle were distracted by their conversation, Hook swiftly reached up and grabbed the sword from Belle's belt.

Hearing the sound of the sword being unsheathed, Belle pushed Rumple away. At the same moment, Hook thrust the sword in their direction.

When he pulled the sword back, it was red with blood.

**-OUAT-**

"So, you saved me," Archie said to Ruby as they walked to his office. They were trying to be discreet; if too many people saw Archie alive there would be more explaining necessary than anyone could afford to do right then.

Ruby blushed. "It was mostly Belle and Gold," she said.

"You found me," Archie said. "I bet you put those wolf senses to good use and tracked me down."

Ruby smiled. "Yeah, I kind of did. I'm sorry I didn't think of it sooner, though. Maybe I-."

"Ruby," Archie said. "Don't worry about it. No one could have guessed that I was kidnapped. This isn't your fault. I am so grateful you rescued me."

"Then," Ruby said. "You're welcome."

They walked further in silence, then Ruby spoke up. "I know you probably want to go home, but I think there is a stop we should make first."

Archie looked at her quizzically. "Where is that?"

"Gold's shop," Ruby said. "Pongo is there."

Archie grinned widely. "You took care of him?"

"It was mostly Gold, who is surprisingly good with dogs, and Belle," Ruby admitted. "I did hang out with him for a bit, though."

"Well he loves you," Archie said. "So thanks for staying with him, even for a little bit."

Ruby grinned. "No problem."

They continued to Gold's shop.

**-OUAT-**

"So we wait until dark?" Regina asked.

Cora smirked. "Why wait when you have magic?" With a few dramatic hand gestures, the sky quickly darkened to appear as though it were midnight or later. People started coming into the streets to see what happened to the sky.

In the sheriff's station, the Charming family noticed the sky darken.

"I guess that means it's go time," Emma said. She went outside, followed by Snow, Charming, and Henry.

"There they are, on the library roof," Snow said, pointing.

"I'll go over," Emma said. "If worse comes to worse, I can try to use my magic on her."

"I want to go with you," Henry said.

Emma shook her head. "No, it is dangerous, kid. Stay here with Mary Margaret and David."

"Mom, please," Henry said, nearly begging.

Emma thought about this. If things went badly, this could be his last chance to see Regina, or Emma, now that she thought about it.

"Fine," Emma said. "But if it goes south, you _run_. You run back here to your grandparents, alright?"

Henry nodded.

"Okay," Emma said. "Let's go."

Back on the rooftop, Cora was doing final preparations n her spell.

Realization dawned on Regina. "You want everyone outside so it is easier to take their hearts," she said. "If you try to take a heart through a wall, it'll damage the heart, which could kill the person and you don't want to risk that on a heart like Snow White's or the Prince's."

"Good," Cora said with approval. "You're catching on quickly."

Another realization dawned on Regina as she watched the people fill the streets. "How are you going to stop my heart from being taken?"

"I can't make exceptions to the curse," Cora said. "It complicates it too much, it might reduce its potency. I'll give you your heart back."

Regina looked at her with astonishment. "No you won't."

Cora looked at her and laughed. "You can't kill me," Cora said. "You can't stop me. You can't stop me without my heart, which you don't have."

"I don't?" Regina challenged.

"It is in safekeeping," Cora said.

"It isn't," Regina said, producing a box from the bag on her hip. She opened it and revealed a heart inside.

"Regina," Cora said. "No."

"I'm sorry," Regina said. Quickly, before she could try any magic, Regina squeezed the heart until her mother was dead. To be extra safe, she destroyed the body with her magic. She also lightened up the sky so that it suited what the actual time was.

Henry, who was standing across the street from the library with a clear view of the roof, saw the whole thing.

"She killed her," he said. "She killed Cora."

"We're safe now," Emma said.

The two stood there in kind of shocked silence and waited for Regina to come down.

"Henry," Regina breathed once she saw him. She tentatively came toward him and wrapped him in a hug.

Henry allowed her to hug him for a few moments then stepped back. "You killed Cora."

"She was going to hurt everyone," Regina said. "She was going to hurt you. I couldn't let her. This was the only way to stop her from ever being able to hurt you."

"Thank you," Henry said. He turned to leave with Emma.

"Henry!" Regina called. "I'm trying," she said. "I'm trying to be better for you, I really am. I promise, you won't have to see me use magic to hurt people ever again."

Henry nodded. "Okay," he said.

Regina accepted this. It wasn't exactly the reaction she wanted, but she knew she would have to work for him to warm up to her. She looked at Emma. "Where's Hook?"

"At the docks," Emma said. "His fight is with Gold, so Gold is there fighting him."

Regina nodded. She looked back to Henry. "Well, it has been a long day. I think I'm going to head home."

"Get home safe," Emma said.

Regina gave her a smile. "Goodbye, Henry." She left.

"Come on, kid," Emma said, putting an arm around Henry's shoulder. "You've had a long day, too." They walked back to the loft.

**-OUAT-**

Belle stumbled backwards. "Rumple…" she said softly.

Rumple put a hand on Belle's back. When he pulled his hand back, it was red with blood.

"What did you do?!" he yelled at Hook.

"Well, I was aiming for her heart, but she turned away," Hook said.

Rumple quickly leaned over and punched Hook hard in the face. He snatched the sword from Hook and pointed it to his chin.

"Rumple," Belle said. "I'm okay. He didn't stab me, it just crazed my back."

"Grazed your back?" Rumple asked. "You're bleeding through your shirt!"

"A few stitches and I'll be fine," Belle said. "Don't kill him!"

Rumple was silent for a moment. "Belle, get off the ship."

"What?" Belle asked. "No."

"Belle, you need medical attention," Rumple said. "Get off the ship and get help. Please."

Belle clearly was weakening; she was losing more blood than she was willing to admit.

"I will not let you murder him," Belle said. "You may think he deserves to die, but no one does."

"I won't kill him," Rumple struggled to say. "I won't. Now, please, get off the ship."

Belle looked at him solemnly for a few moments, then left the ship.

"So, now that she's gone, you're going to kill me?" Hook asked.

"No," Rumple replied.

Hook's face contorted with anger and a bit of sadness. "Come on, you coward! Kill me!"

"No." In a flash, Hook was tied up to the mast of the ship.

"The last time you tied me to my ship, you killed someone I loved," Hook said. "There's no one left like that. What are you going to do, Crocodile?" He was taunting Rumple.

"I'm going to send you away," he replied. He stepped close to Hook, so that his face was only inches from the pirate's. "And if you even consider coming back here, for a moment, I will not hesitate to end you, do you understand?"

Hook said nothing, so Rumple slapped him in the face.

"Do you understand?!" Rumple repeated.

"Aye," Hook said, knowing he was defeated but not trying to let Rumple see it.

Rumple pulled a vial from his pocket and showed it to Hook. "This will ensure that you will never return here again. You will never again hurt the people I care about." He poured the contents of the vial on and around Hook.

"I wouldn't count on it," Hook said before he, the ship, and Rumple disappeared into a puff of smoke. Hook and the ship were transported to a different world, while Rumple appeared on the dock.

"Belle," Rumple said. "What are you still doing here? I thought you were getting help."

"Where did the ship go?" Belle asked. "Where is Hook?"

"I transported them to another world," Rumple said. "I know you don't want me using magic, but that was the only way short of killing him that I could think of to stop him from hurting you."

Belle leaned in and kissed Rumple on the cheek. "Thank you."

Rumple smiled, then put Belle's arm around him so he could support her. "Come on, let's get you to a doctor."

Belle's face fell and she looked terrified. "At the hospital?"

Rumple gave her a concerned look. "Yes," he said. "A doctor can fix you, good as new." He tried to put a positive spin on this, but knew Belle was incredibly reluctant to go to the hospital because of the twenty-eight years she spent captive there.

Belle still looked terrified though.

"The only other option is to fix it with magic," Rumple said. "And magic always comes at a price."

"Fairy dust," Belle said. "I used it once to break a curse on a man who was trapped in the body of a beast. It helped him, maybe it could heal me."

"Belle, fairy dust breaks curses," Rumple said gently. "It won't fix a wound from a sword. I'm sorry."

Belle was still clearly unsettled by the idea of the hospital.

"How about this," Rumple said. "I will take you home and try to get a doctor to make a house call. He should be able to treat you at home."

Belle smiled weakly. "Thank you."

They carried on walking toward Rumple's house as Rumple called the hospital from his phone and arranged for Doc to meet them at the house

**-OUAT-**

"Do you feel any pain?" Doc asked Belle.

"No," Belle said. "I can feel you moving the string and the needle, if that makes sense, but it doesn't hurt."

"Good," Doc said. "This will only take a few minutes. I brought some antibiotics I want you to take so that this doesn't get infected, especially since these aren't exactly the most sanitary conditions."

Rumple shot him a look.

"You will be fine, though," Doc assured her. "I will stop by again in a few days to see how you're healing. The stitches should be okay to come out in two weeks at most."

"Thank you, Doc," Belle said. Back in the old world, Belle and Doc met briefly. On the two occasions when Belle met Dreamy – now Grumpy – the other dwarves where there and met Belle, too. Belle liked him, like she liked all the dwarves. They were kind.

After another minute or so, Doc stood up from the chair he was sitting in while he worked. "All done," he said. He applied a bandage. "Keep the bandage on it, that will also help reduce the risk of infection. I brought you some bandages, too, so you have enough. Change them every day."

"Thank you," Belle said gratefully.

Doc packed up his things and got ready to leave. "Take care of her," he said to Rumplestiltskin. Rumple glared at him. "Sir. Take care of her, _sir._"

Belle chuckled. "Rumple, be nice," she said.

Rumple sighed slightly. He stuck his hand out for Doc to shake. "Thank you for taking care of her," he said sincerely.

"Not a problem," Doc said, shaking Rumple's hand. Then he left.

Rumple walked up the table Belle was laying on. He crouched down so he was at eye level with her.

"How do you feel?" Rumple asked.

"Doc numbed my back, so I can't feel any pain," she said. "I'm going to be fine," she assured him.

"I know," Rumple said. He kissed her forehead. "I just don't like seeing you in pain, dear."

"Well, don't worry about it," Belle said. "Because I am fine now."

Rumple smiled. "Well, let's get you up," he said after a moment, offering a hand to help Belle up with.

Belle smiled shyly. "Rumple…I'm not wearing a shirt. I had to take it off so Doc could get the clearest view of my back."

Rumple blushed. "Right. Well, I…uh…I will step outside and let you get dressed."

Belle blushed, too. "Thank you," she said.

**-OUAT-**

"So we're all safe?" Snow asked.

"Apparently so," Emma replied from across the table at the loft. "Gold sent Hook to another world and Regina killed Cora."

Charming and Snow shared a look.

"Is it right to send Hook to another world?" Charming asked. "He could just hurt the people there."

"I don't think he will," Emma said. "He's got the pirate's honor, or whatever he wants to call it. He won't hurt people who won't hurt him. Besides, there isn't a way for him to get back here. He can't travel between worlds without Cora and even if he could, the curse that is keeping us in town will keep him out."

"So we really are safe," Snow said. "That's new."

They all chuckled.

**-OUAT-**

A couple weeks later, it was the end of December. New Year's Eve was upon Storybrooke and there was a party at Granny's to celebrate. Belle's stitches had since healed and everyone was healthy and ready to have some fun.

Rumple was getting drinks – iced teas, of course – for himself, Belle, and Ruby, while Belle and Ruby waited in their booth and chatted.

"Archie's here," Belle said.

Ruby tried to hide her grin. "Yeah, I saw him walk in."

"Did you?" Belle asked.

Ruby blushed. "I mean, I wasn't _looking_. I just happened to be facing toward the door when he walked in. No biggie."

Belle gave her a questioning look.

"It is no big deal," Ruby clarified.

Snow came up to the booth and sat beside Ruby. "What's no big deal?"

"Ruby has eyes for Archie," Belle said with a conspiratorial smile.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "I should not have told you what that meant."

Snow laughed. "Well, I think you should go for it."

"I agree with Snow," Belle said. "So, majority rules. You should go talk to Archie."

"This isn't up to a vote!" Ruby said.

"Ruby," Snow began. "Anyone with eyes can tell you are into Archie. It's Christmas and it's New Years and this is the time to go after what you want."

"What is Christmas?" Belle asked.

Ruby turned to her. "It is a holiday celebrated in this world that involves putting a tree in your house and giving gifts to the people you care about."

"What kind of gifts?"

"Things you think they would like, like a book they are interested in or a sweater or something," Ruby replied.

"Try not to give socks or ties, though," Snow said. "Those don't seem to go over well."

"What an odd custom," Belle said.

"Speaking of customs," Snow began. "Archie is still standing near the door. There is mistletoe on the doorway above him."

Ruby blushed and her eyes got wide. "No."

Snow turned to Belle. "Another custom with Christmas is that you hang mistletoe from a doorway, and whoever stands under it has to kiss."

Belle's eyebrows shot up. "Oh?" she asked. "What if you stood under it accidentally?"

"It isn't obligatory," Snow said.

"Exactly-" Ruby was about to add, but Snow cut her off.

"But two people who want to kiss usually obey the rule of the mistletoe," Snow added.

Belle looked at Ruby, smirking. "Rules are rules."

Ruby sighed. "Fine, I'll go talk to him," she said. "No guarantees on the mistletoe, though."

"That is good enough," Snow said, getting out of the booth so Ruby can go to Archie.

Ruby sighed. "Here goes nothing," she said, then walked up to Archie.

Snow turned back to Belle. "Hey, Belle," she said. "I never really got a chance to thank you."

"Thank me for what?" Belle asked.

"You helped save us," Snow said. "You helped stop Hook. When Emma and I were trapped in our land, we met Hook and Emma more or less got on his bad side. He could have hurt her, but you Gold stopped him."

"Rumple did most of the work," Belle said. "But you're welcome." She looked around and saw that Charming was looking in their direction. Belle nodded towards him. "I think your prince would like you back."

Snow grinned. "Yeah, I should get back. I'll see you around, Belle."

"Okay," Belle said smiling. "Have a good night."

Soon after Snow rejoined Charming, Rumple rejoined Belle at the booth.

"Sorry it took so long to get drinks, dear," Rumple said. "Granny brewed it fresh just for you."

Belle grinned. "I'll make sure to thank her for that."

"What did Snow want?" Rumple asked, sitting down next to Belle.

"She thanked us," Belle said. "For stopping Hook. She was really grateful and appreciative."

"I'm glad she's appreciative, but I didn't do it for her."

Belle smiled and nuzzled up against Rumple's chest, with his arm around her shoulders.

"Where did Ruby go?" Rumple asked after a short while.

"Did you just notice she'd gone?" Belle asked with humor in her voice.

"No," Rumple asserted. "I just didn't want to disturb you while you looked so comfortable."

"Okay," Belle said. She gestured towards the door Archie and Ruby were still standing near. "Ruby is over there, talking with Archie. Snow and I want them to kiss under the mistletoe."

"Do you?" Rumple asked. He squinted. "Yes, I suppose I could see it. A wolf and a cricket. It isn't that much more unusual a combination than a beauty and a beast, eh?"

"You're not a beast, Rumple," Belle said.

"But you are very much a beauty," Rumple said, leaning down and kissing Belle's forehead.

They sat contentedly in their booth drinking iced tea for a while until the party waned down and people started to go home. They didn't really talk to anyone, or each other very much, but they were happy to be there, together, safe and a part of the community.

**-OUAT-**

Ruby, too, felt safe while talking with Archie, but also incredibly nervous. She'd spoken to Archie before, of course, but he was different. She felt things for him that she hadn't felt since Peter, and she couldn't bear to think about him for very long because of what she did to him in wolf form.

But, if she learned anything since the curse broke, it was that she shouldn't hate herself for being a wolf. She didn't choose it and she never intentionally hurt anyone with it. She could control it, too, with the hood, and she could control herself more when she was in wolf form. She didn't think of herself as a monster so much anymore, and it took a lot of time and work to come to that end.

Still, she hadn't been with anyone in a relationship since Peter. She flirted a lot in the curse years, like with August and Billy, but she was starting to come into her own and realize she wanted – and deserved – something more. Snow and Belle really helped her come to this conclusion and she was really grateful to them for it.

Gratitude aside, she would have to get them back later for essentially forcing her into a conversation with Archie, though.

"Hey, Archie," Ruby said as she came up to him.

"Ruby!" Archie said excitedly. "Hello. The, uh, the decorations in the diner look great tonight." He was clearly nervous, and Ruby thought that was cute.

"Thank you," she replied. They were quietly awkward for a little while, then Ruby spoke up. "I'm really glad you're okay."

Archie looked surprised for a quick moment, then smiled. "Thank you. I'm really glad you were there to save me." Ruby was about to speak up, but Archie spoke quickly before she could. "I know, Belle and Mr. Gold helped as well. But they came on the ship for Hook. You came for me. So, thank you."

Ruby blushed and smiled shyly. "You're welcome, then."

"So, Ruby, I was wondering," Archie began, returning to his nervous stammer. "Would you maybe like to eat with me?"

"Tonight?" Ruby asked. "It's pretty late, I think Granny already closed the kitchen for the night. I could get you a drink, though."

"I-I didn't mean tonight," Archie said. "I was thinking, maybe tomorrow night? Or if you're busy tomorrow, I understand, another night, then?"

Realization dawned on Ruby. "Archie, are you asking me out on a date?"

"No!" he said hurriedly. He saw Ruby's face fall. "I mean, yes! Of course! I don't know why I said no. It is a date if you want it to be. If you don't, I understand."

"Archie," Ruby began. "I would love to go on a date with you. And tomorrow night sounds perfect."

Archie broke out into a grin. "Wonderful. Thank you. I will pick you up at 7?"

"That sounds great," Ruby said.

"Great," Archie said, smiling.

"So," Ruby began nervously. "I don't know how familiar you are with the customs of this land, but we happen to be standing under mistletoe."

"We are?" Archie looked up. "Oh my. Yes, I am familiar with the custom."

"Have you ever kissed anyone under mistletoe before?" Ruby asked.

Archie shook his head. "No."

"Neither have I," Ruby said. "But there's a first time for everything, right?"

Archie blushed even more, but then smiled even wider. "Yes, there is." He pulled Ruby closer to him with one hand on her lower back and kissed her. Ruby gladly kissed him back and draped her arms around his neck.

**-OUAT-**

Later that evening, Rumple and Belle were getting ready for bed at the house. Rumple was in bed reading a book while Belle was brushing her teeth. They were calling to each other from the two rooms.

"You know, Belle, I never really had iced tea before," Rumple said. "I'm sure I had it at some point, but not very often. It is delicious."

"Isn't it?" Belle responded. "I was talking to Ruby the other day and she said she wants to get me to try a Long Island iced tea."

Rumple chuckled. "Oh my. I'm not sure that is such a great idea, dear."

"Why not?"

"It has more kinds of alcohol in it than I can name," Rumple replied. "And alcohol here is much different. We mostly just had beer, wine, and spirits in our world but here there are so many different kinds, and they are much more potent here than we are used to."

"Oh," Belle replied. "Speaking of good ideas, I think I have one."

"Oh?" Rumple asked, grinning. "Let's hear it."

In the bathroom, Belle took a deep breath and stepped outside into the bedroom. "I think you should see it, rather than hear it."

"Belle, you are barely wearing a shirt," Rumple said, knowing he should turn away but not wanting to. He looked Belle in the eyes as best he could.

"I know," she said. "Rumple, we've been here for months and we've been through so much and we love each other so much. I think we're ready for this."

"Belle," Rumple began. "I…I didn't think we were ever about…_this_."

Belle's face fell. "So you don't want to?"

Rumple's eyes widened. "No! No, of course I want to! I love you and you are so beautiful. I've thought about this before, but I didn't think you ever wanted to. Which is fine, I understand."

"Of course, this isn't what our relationship is all about," Belle said. "But we love each other. And I think this is a way for us to express that love. And I want to do this, with you."

Rumple got out of bed, with a little difficulty because of his bad leg, and walked up to Belle. He took her face in his hands and kissed her passionately.

"I love you, Belle," Rumple said softly.

"I love you too, Rumple," she replied.

"Stop me if I hurt you, okay?" Rumple said.

"You won't," Belle replied, honestly believing it.

"Belle, I don't want to hurt you-."

"I trust you, Rumple," Belle said, looking straight into his eyes. "Alright?"

"Alright." Rumple put his arm around Belle's back and led her to the bed.

**-OUAT-**

Regina silently walked alone in the dark through the cemetery. She came across the Mills family mausoleum and went inside.

Everyone else was at the party at Granny's, and Regina was invited, but she didn't want to go. She saved Henry and Emma and the two idiots and everyone else and yet she couldn't stand to be near any of them. She felt so conflicted about everything; she knew she did the right thing but at the end of the day she did kill her own mother.

She needed closure.

So, she was at the cemetery. She walked to the back of the mausoleum and faced the shelf. She had a single rose in her hand.

"I don't have any part of you to bury," Regina said. "But if I did, I don't even know if I would put them in here. I did what I did because I don't want to become you. I cannot become you. Your own child killed you, and I cannot and will not let myself get so evil that Henry will one day kill me.

"I am trying so hard to be better for Henry. I deserved that same effort from you, but I never got it. You framed me for murder and you tried to hurt the person I love most here, and all that only happened here. You did _so _much worse in our land, mother."

She laid the rose down on the shelf.

"But you are still my mother, and that won't change. That can't change. A lot of who I am is because of you. I loved you, Mother, but you made it so damn hard to not feel guilty for doing so. You were evil and you brought that evil here. And I cannot forgive you for that.

"You may have cared about me, but you never could show it properly. You just manipulated me for my entire life, you took away the things I loved and forced me into a life I didn't want. And that made me so…_angry_. And hurt. And alone.

"But, to be better for Henry, I have to let go of all that. I need to let go of that and I need to let go of you. So, goodbye Mother."

Regina softly touched the rose one last time, then let go and left.

She silently walked alone out of the cemetery and made sure no one was around to see her cry.

**-OUAT-**

Rumple woke up with a small smile on his face. He reached to put an arm over Belle but found the bed empty, his smile disappearing.

"Belle?" he called.

_No, she can't have left, _Rumple said. _She wouldn't leave. Unless I hurt her. What if Hook came back somehow and took her? What if she is gone, again?_

He quickly got out of bed and put on the first articles of clothing he could find.

"Belle?!" he called again. He saw that she wasn't upstairs and hurried downstairs. "Belle!"

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Belle said from behind the kitchen counter. "I was just making you some breakfast."

Rumple came up behind her and hugged her. "I thought you left."

"You thought I left?" Belle asked. "Rumple, I wouldn't. I'm not going to leave you, ever."

Rumple sighed in relief. "I'm sorry. I love you."

"I love you, too," Belle said. She smiled. "Now, sit down. Ruby taught me to make pancakes and I made some for you."

Rumple grinned and sat down. For the first time in a while, he felt safe and loved.

**The end. This is the longest chapter I've ever added to the story; it is like twice as long as the average chapter in this story. There was a loooooot of stuff going on in this chapter but I hope y'all liked it!**

**Please leave a review!**

**Also! If you get a chance, please check out my one-shot about Red Cricket called "Running". It would really mean a lot if you checked it out and left a review, so please do!**


	8. Chapter 8 Experience

**Hey guys. I know it's been a while since I've updated this and I'm sorry. But yeah here is the next chapter, it picks up where chapter 6 left off. The last chapter (chapter 7) was a flashback to fill in backstory. In case anyone was confused about that.**

**So yeah. Here we go. **

Chapter 8

"What fools these mortals be," Belle quoted to Rumple. "William Shakespeare, _A Midsummer Night's Dream_."

Rumple chuckled bitterly. "Fool indeed if he truly believed he can hurt you or Bae."

Belle closed the book she was reading and looked up to her fiancé. "Rumple…" she began. "It is going to be okay. The last time he was here we made it out fine. I'm alright now, don't worry about me."

"He sliced you with his sword."

"He only grazed me," Belle reasoned. "And it did not significant harm. There is barely even a scar now."

"That is not the point," Rumple asserted.

"I know," Belle conceded. "The point is that Hook needs to be stopped, and Charming, Snow, and Emma can do it. It is too dangerous for you to fight him."

"Too dangerous?" Rumple scoffed. He sprung up from the couch he was sitting on and pounded on the table in front of him. "I am not a coward! If he wants a fight with me, I'll give him one!"

Belle got up and put her hand on Rumple's back. "Calm down. There is a difference between bravery and taking every fight that comes your way. You don't need a sword or magic to stop him. We need a plan, which is being worked on. It is going to be okay."

"I'm sorry," Rumple said sincerely. "I just…I just got Bae back and you just got out of the hospital. The two people I care for most have this habit of being in peril, and I cannot let that continue…"

"It won't," Belle said. "I'm fine. Bae is fine. We're okay."

"Hook is bent on revenge, Belle," Rumple said. "He will not stop until he gets his revenge on me, and to do so he will hurt you."

"I can take care of myself," Belle said with a grin. "Besides, Charming, Snow, and Emma are on it. Hook kidnapped Snow, remember? Charming and Emma won't let him get away with that."

Rumple sighed.

"It is okay to trust them," Belle said. "I know that you don't have the best past with them, but they are doing their best to fix this."

"Belle," Rumple began. "I'm scared."

"I know," Belle said. "And, historically speaking, your typical response to fear is bad. But here you are, sitting here with me, thinking before you act. I'm so proud of you. And I know that I can't make the fear go away, because I'm scared too. But, I can help. Let me help."

"Please stay safe," Rumple said. "Don't go running around trying to fix this."

"I won't," Belle said. "But you can't either. We're getting married, we have to be a team."

Rumple nodded. "I'm trying."

"I know," Belle said. She smiled and nodded. "I know. I think that is all we can do right now. Try."

"I love you Belle," Rumple said.

Belle gladly wrapped her fiancé in a hug. "I love you, too."

**-OUAT-**

Emma sat at her desk in the police station, filling out some paperwork. People of the town were generally well-behaved; there were very rarely arrests made for anything serious. Still, Emma had to fill out paperwork for the occasional public intoxication after a too-long night at Granny's or a fender bender.

She got to the office early after she brought Belle home from the hospital to catch up on paper work, then Charming and Snow were going to come and they were all going to work on the plan for Hook.

Emma heard the door open. "Hey, I'm in the office, come in and we'll get started," she called to who she thought was her parents.

"Emma," a voice said.

"Damn it," Emma muttered, recognizing the voice. "Neal-."

"No," Neal said as he walked through the office door. "Don't tell me to leave, because I'm not leaving. You owe me an explanation. I came here and found out I had a son and I thought I handled that fairly well. You said I could see him and now you blow me off each and every time I try to. What the hell, Emma?"

"Neal, I can't talk right now-."

"Of course you can't talk now," Neal said. "I get that you have a life here and I get that you're doing your own thing but I thought that the fact that I came all the way here for you and with everything we shared, I deserved a bit of your time."

"You sent me to jail, Neal, that isn't exactly a great thing for us to share," Emma snapped.

"Don't do that," Neal said. "I had my reasons and I told you them and I thought you understood, or at least was over it. I did what was best for you, like I always have. I deserve to know him and I deserve an explanation for why you haven't let me around him when you said I would."

"It is complicated, Neal," Emma said. "There is so much going on, I do not have time for this."

"Then make time!" Neal said. "It feels like we have this conversation every time we talk! Emma, I deserve to spend time with him. Make time, please."

Emma softened when she heard the desperation in his voice on that last word. "He's at home with my parents. I can call them and have them bring him here."

Neal's demeanor visibly brightened.

"Here is the deal," Emma said. "I don't want you alone with him. Take him to Granny's, the diner up the road. He also likes the library, but I'm not sure if it is open. Do not go anywhere where there aren't other people."

"Emma, you can trust me alone with my own kid," Neal said.

"I kn-" Emma began, almost admitting that she trusted Neal with Henry. But the part of her that was still so hurt over what he did wasn't sure. So, she shared the bigger reason why she didn't want the two of them alone. "It isn't about that. Remember that pirate I told you about, Hook? He wants to hurt me and if he knows about Henry, he might go after him. There is safety in numbers, and I know Granny's is safe. Granny is packing a crossbow."

"A crossbow?" Neal asked with a chuckle.

Emma smiled softly. "This is serious, though," she continued. "We can talk again about Henry once Hook is gone, but until then we have to do whatever keeps him safest."

"I won't let anyone hurt him," Neal said.

Emma looked at him silently for a moment. The moment was short, but she managed to search his face and feel how seriously he meant what he said. "I know," she said. She picked up her phone of the desk. "Let me go make those phone calls."

**-OUAT-**

Bae was in his room at Granny's, angry. He couldn't believe what Hook said, but he knew he had to. He knew it all along, but he never wanted to admit it to himself. All along he knew that his father was capable of this kind of thing. He did let his own son be pulled away into who-knows-where by a magical portal by himself.

He was so angry and so hurt. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to handle this, now that he was confronted with it. He was in a strange land and spent most of his time on his own, since Rumplestiltskin was usually with Belle. His previously uncomfortable predicament became unbearable and he didn't want to take it anymore.

He gave his father a chance and he ended up getting hurt. He sighed.

"I can't be here," he said to himself. With that, he gathered up his belongings – consisting of the clothes he came in and a coat Rumple bought for him. Rumple bought him other clothes, too, but Bae didn't want them. He didn't want anything of Rumplestiltskin's.

He grabbed a piece of paper and a pen off the bedside table. "Thank you for your hospitality, it is much appreciated. Sincerely, Baelfire," he wrote, knowing Granny would see the note. She always treated Bae well while he was there. She made sure that the heater was on in his room and brought him leftover dessert from the diner at night. She made him feel a bit like he had a home here.

But Bae knew now that wasn't true. Rumple was more evil than he realized. Yes, Rumple killed his mother a long time ago and maybe he changed by now. But he never told Bae the truth, and that lie has lasted ever since Milah died. Bae hated that his father lied to him for so long.

He left the note on the table and went to walk out the door. He paused at the door, though, and took off the coat Rumple gave him. He didn't want it after all.

**-OUAT-**

Hook, meanwhile, was in the forest with a shovel, searching for a particular dagger. When Cora was in town, she figured out that the dagger was in town, as well. Hook figured he had enough magic to find it.

He cast a few spells and soon all the forest around him was full of purple smoke. Suddenly there was almost a tornado of purple mist and it centered over a spot only a few hundred feet away. Hook hurried over there and began digging.

A little while later, he was covered in dirt and grinning. He reached down into the hole he made and pulled up an object wrapped in cloth. He delicately unfolded the cloth, the one gentle action in a series of anger-driven, frantic motion. His smile grew wider when he saw what was wrapped in the cloth.

He gingerly ran his fingers across the shiny metal. The metal glistened in the sunlight as the purple smoke dissipated and the sun shone through the trees.

"Rumplestiltskin," he read off the dagger. He stood up and put the dagger carefully in his belt. "Rumplestiltskin," he said again. "I am finally going to skin that crocodile."

He turned and swaggered away, ignoring the storm clouds rapidly gathering overhead and releasing an angry mixture of thunder, lightning, and rain.

**-OUAT-**

Ruby was driving to work when it suddenly started to downpour. She frowned as she turned on her windshield wipers and slowed to a stop at the red light.

_At least it'll be a slow day at work_, she thought to herself, knowing that people rarely wanted to go out of their way to the diner when the weather is so bad. The light turned green and she was about to drive forward when she saw a boy walking in her direction. She pulled over and rolled her window down.

"Hey," she said. "The weather is pretty bad, huh?"

Bae looked at her quizzically. "Yeah, I guess so." To be honest, he hadn't noticed the rain very much. He just wanted to get out of this town.

"Do you need a ride somewhere?" Ruby asked. She recognized Bae from Granny's and she had seen him at the hospital a few times. "Gold's house isn't so far out of the way, I could take you there so you don't have to walk through the rain."

"No," Bae said quickly. He could see why Ruby would think he was going to his father's house, but he definitely didn't want to go there. "Sorry," he said, realizing he spoke so quickly that it could come off as harsh. "But no, I'm not headed over there."

"Well I can drive you somewhere else," Ruby offered. "It really isn't a great idea to be walking in this storm."

"Really, it's fine," Bae said.

"Are you sure?" Ruby asked.

As if answering the question for Bae, thunder suddenly erupted from the sky and it seemed to rain harder.

Bae sighed slightly at the falling rain. Now that he noticed the rain, he really wasn't enjoying it.

Ruby smiled knowingly, seeing in Bae's face that he wasn't liking the rain. She reached over and opened the passenger door. "Get in."

Bae got in. "Thank you," he said.

"No problem," Ruby said. "Where are you headed?"

"I'm not sure," Bae said. "I thought I'd go for a walk." He didn't want to admit he was leaving town, so he lied. He figured he could leave when the weather got better.

"Yeah, that may not be such a good idea anymore," Ruby said with a laugh. "I could take you back to Granny's…? Have you had breakfast yet?"

"No," Bae admitted.

"Well, I'm sure we can do something about that at the diner."

Bae grinned slightly. He really did appreciate the hospitality displayed to him by Granny and Ruby. "Thank you."

"No problem," Ruby said. She looked over. "Are you buckled in?"

"I've only ever been in a car a few times," Bae said. "I'm not sure…"

"Right," Ruby said. She pointed over his shoulder. "Just pull that strap down and by your left side should be a place to buckle in the end…there you go."

"Thanks," Bae said.

Ruby smiled at him, then pulled back onto the road and headed toward Granny's.

**-OUAT-**

Snow, Charming, and Henry walked into the police station.

"Neal," Snow said when she saw him. Her was voice sweet enough but still had a tone that told Neal that if he hurt Henry or Emma, she'd kill him.

"Neal," Charming said much more sternly.

"Hi," Neal said, sticking his hand out for handshakes with the two. Charming sounded much more threatening, but yet Neal was somehow more afraid of Snow.

"Henry, Neal is going to keep an eye on you today," Emma said to her son.

Henry sized up Neal. "Who are you?"

Neal exchanged an unsure glance with Emma, then cleared his throat and spoke. "Hi," he said, crouching down in front of Henry. "I'm your father."

Henry took a small step back. "No, my father died." He looked up to Emma. "Right? He died, you said so."

"He isn't dead," Emma said.

Henry's face contorted to show his disbelief and hurt.

"Henry, I'm sorry," Emma said. "I shouldn't have lied, but things were…complicated."

"You knew how hurt I would be when Regina lied to me," Henry said. "She stopped, through. You never did. I thought you were different."

Emma was speechless, her eyes cloudy with tears.

Neal noticed this and spoke up.

"Hey, it isn't her fault," Neal said. "She had very good reason for not telling you about me. What matters is that I'm here now, right? I can be a part of your life Henry."

Henry looked up at him. "Can we leave? I don't want to be here anymore."

Neal nodded and spoke solemnly. "Yeah, your mom told me about this diner in town where we can get some hot chocolates and talk."

"Let's go," Henry said. Without saying goodbye to Emma he turned and left. Neal followed.

Emma didn't move. Snow saw that her daughter was distraught and went over to her. She put an arm around her.

"I am guessing that didn't go as planned," Snow said softly.

"Not exactly," Emma replied. She wiped her eyes. "I'm fine, let' get to work."

"Emma…" Snow said.

"Mary Margaret," Emma replied sternly. "Please. Stop."

Snow turned to Charming. "I think I left the maps in the car, do you think you could go get them?"

Charming nodded and left.

Snow sat down in one of the chairs and pulled Emma gently down into the one beside her own.

"You didn't think about Neal when you lied to Henry, did you," Snow asked.

Emma shrugged. "Why should I have? He wasn't around and, based on the way we left things, it didn't seem like we'd ever see each other again. I didn't want Henry to know his father abandoned me and that he was a thief. I wanted Henry to feel like he was better than that."

"Emma…"

"I know," Emma said. "Henry is better than that, and even if he knew the truth he'd know that. Neal is better than that too, but for the longest time I was so…angry. He left me alone. I never told him this, I never told anyone this, but I could have pictured having a family with Neal. I could have seen myself with him having a stable life with kids and a house and normal life once we figured out the whole situation with him being a wanted criminal."

Emma was quiet, so Snow spoke up.

"And if he didn't leave and get you sent to prison, you could have had that," Snow offered.

Emma nodded. "Yeah. For the first time in my life, I could have had a family. But Neal life and he took that opportunity with him. I had to give Henry up, I couldn't have raised him in prison."

"Emma, I know a little something about wanting a family and not being able to have it," Snow said.

"Right, I'm sorry," Emma said quickly. "You and David lost me for twenty-eight years. I got Henry back after ten, I can still raise him. I'm sorry-."

"No, Emma, stop," Snow said with a slight laugh. "You're allowed to be upset. And, anyway, that wasn't what I was going to say."

"What were you going to say?" Emma asked.

"Do you remember when we were in the old land, and we saw Lancelot?"

"Yeah," Emma said. "It was Cora in disguise, but I remember that you knew him."

"He was a very close friend," Snow said, smiling softly. "And a great man. All he did was follow his heart, even though it led to his expulsion from the Round Table." She paused, thinking fondly of her friend while starting to feel the sorrow for his death creeping up on her again.

Emma saw that Snow was getting upset so she spoke up. "What did he do for you?"

"I ran into him during the war for the kingdom, before your father and I got married," Snow said. "He was on King George's side, so when he found me he took me as a captive to George. George hated me because I was what made Charming want to fight for the good of the kingdom instead of just doing whatever George wanted. He hated that Charming and I were happy and had so much potential to not only rule the kingdom but also be even happier. He said I took away his family, because Charming chose me over him. In return, he wanted to take away my family." She took a breath. "He gave me a potion that cursed me so that I could never have children."

Emma looked surprised. "Wow," she said. "Did Lancelot reverse the curse?"

Snow laughed slightly at how direct Emma was being. "Yeah, long story short he did. He found a way to break the curse even when I thought there was no hope and I would never escape it. After George released me, we ended up going to Charming's mother's house. I told her about the curse and she helped Lancelot break it without me knowing. I didn't realize until later, after Ruth died and Charming had her enchanted necklace that the curse was broken."

"What'd the necklace do?"

"It was enchanted to tell you the sex of your firstborn child," Snow said. She smiled. "That's how I knew you were going to be a girl, even though Charming insisted you'd be a boy."

Emma chuckled.

"The necklace isn't the point, though," Snow continued. "Emma, I know what it is like to feel like you've lost your chance at having a family. I know what it feels like to think you missed a major opportunity and that if you did something, anything differently…things would be different. Better. But the thing is, here I am now, talking with my daughter. You're here, and I'm here, and your father is here. Henry is here. Our family is together. It took a while to get there, but we're here and we're okay. That is what matters."

"Henry is really angry," Emma said.

"Like you weren't angry when you found out Charming and I were your parents?" Snow said, not in an accusatory manner but more to point out the facts. "Like you weren't hurt by how we ended up here?"

"I don't want him to be hurt," Emma said. "I don't want him to be angry."

"No mother wants that for her child," Snow said. "But you have to let Henry go through this. You have to let him sort out his feelings about this and get to know Neal."

At that moment, Charming returned with the maps.

Emma looked up and clapped her hands together. "Let's get to work." She stood.

Snow stood as well and was about to walk into the office when Emma stopped her.

"Hey," Emma said. "Thank you."

Snow pulled Emma in for a hug. She let her go and smiled. "Now let's go stop a pirate."

**-OUAT-**

"What can I get for you guys?" Ruby asked Neal and Henry.

"Root beer, please," Henry said.

"Isn't it a little early in the morning for that, bud?" Neal asked.

"Hot chocolate, then," Henry said. "With cinnamon."

"One for me, too," Neal said.

"Coming right up," Ruby said.

Neal and Henry said their thanks. Ruby gave Neal a not-so-subtle look.

"Hey, Henry, how about you go wash up a bit," Neal said.

"Okay," Henry said, leaving the booth to go the restroom in the book.

Ruby sat down in the seat Henry vacated.

"So you're Neal," she said.

"In the flesh," Neal responded. "And you must be…"

"Ruby," she replied. "Sometimes called Red, depending on who you ask."

"Red?" Neal asked. "Like…Little Red Riding Hood?"

"In the flesh," Ruby said. "But with a slight twist." She leaned in, wanting to intimidate Neal. "I am the wolf. Literally."

"Okay," Neal said, a little nervous.

"That being said," Ruby began. "Henry is a good kid. Emma is a damn good mother, and I care about both of them very much. You will not like what happens if you hurt either of them."

"I'm not here to hurt them," Neal said, not backing down. "I spent years trying to get here, ever since the curse broke. I'm not going to throw this away, I'm not going to waste my time here. I came for Emma but now that I know about Henry, I'm here for him. I'm going to be the father he deserves."

Ruby stood up. "Good," she said simply. "Your drinks will be ready in a few minutes."

She walked back to the kitchen and handed the order to Granny.

"Scaring new customers, are we?" Granny asked.

"How much did you hear?"

"Enough," Granny said. "I've noticed that the maternal instinct can be a bit…stronger in wolves than in non-wolves."

Ruby laughed lightly. "I've noticed. Stop me if I start carrying weapons like, oh I don't know, a crossbow."

Granny smiled in spite of herself. "Very funny, Ruby."

"Thanks," she replied, grinning. She handed the order ticket to Granny and headed back to the counter.

"Do you want a refill?" Ruby asked Bae.

"No, I'm good," he replied, still sullen.

"Do you want to talk?" Ruby asked.

"Not really," Bae said.

"Fair enough," Ruby said. "But for what it's worth, Gold isn't the same man he was before the curse. He isn't even the same man he was right after the curse broke. Belle is good for him; she's taught him to be a better man. He's made a lot of mistakes, but he's spent the last three years trying to make amends. I don't know who you remember him as, but he isn't evil."

"Are you very close with your mother?" Bae asked.

Ruby stiffened without consciously choosing to. "No, I'm not," she managed to say. "She…she died. A long time ago."

"I'm sorry," Bae said. "Mine died too. A while ago. I was young."

"I'm sorry," Ruby said. "It's really hard to lose a parent when you're still a kid."

"Were you very young when your mom died?" Bae asked.

"It's kind of…complicated," Ruby said. "She left was I was a baby. My Granny raised me. I found her again when I was older; it turns out we had more in common than I thought. She introduced me into this world I didn't know existed, but for the first time didn't make me feel like an outsider. But then I realized that it wasn't all good and there was a lot going on behind the curtain that I didn't see. I guess I didn't want to, so I didn't let myself. But when I finally did see…the life my mother was living wasn't the life I wanted, even though I thought it was. I wanted it to be, I wanted to think I belonged in this place where I was accepted for being me. But I wasn't really being myself, I was being who I thought I was supposed to be. And I was wrong about that."

"This is all very cryptic," Bae pointed out.

"Trust me, it is a lot more complicated if I use specifics," Ruby said. "Anyway, I realized that the family I thought I found with my mom wasn't real, because they didn't care about me. They cared about who they could turn me into. My friend came to find me and accidentally led some of the Queen's guard to us. There was a fight and my mother almost killed my friend. She didn't because I stopped her, but by doing so I killed her." She exhaled. "I killed my mother."

"I'm sorry," Bae said.

"I made a decision," Ruby said with a shrug. "In the end, I chose the family I had over the people who didn't really care about me. I don't regret that choice at all."

They were quiet for a few moments, then Bae spoke up. "Why'd you tell me all this?"

"I grew up thinking my mom died, but she actually left me," Ruby said. "That changed things, but I've learned from it. For a while I just kept thinking that if only I had someone who understood, at least a bit. But no one did." She shrugged again. "I don't know. I just thought maybe if I shared my story, you could find something to help you."

"I think I might have," Bae said. "Thank you."

**-OUAT-**

"So, the plan," Emma said. She pointed to the map. "His ship is here." She drew a line to Gold's shop, then another to Gold's house, then another back to the ship. "This is the area where he'll most likely be. If he wants to get to his ship or to Gold, the most direct routes are in this area. So, we cover this area. Canvas it. We can't let him get anywhere without us knowing."

"There are other ways to get to Gold, though," Snow pointed out. "He could easily go around this area."

"Right," Emma said. "That's why Regina is going to show me how to cast a protection charm."

"I don't see why Regina can't cast it herself," Charming said. "She is more powerful than you, no offense."

"None taken," Emma said. "But this is our fight, not hers. She doesn't want to use magic and we have to respect that. Besides, my magic resisted Cora's back when she tried to take my heart when we were in the old land. If I can resist her magic, I probably will have some special effect on Hook's magic."

"You're going to need cover when you cast the charm," Charming said.

"Yeah, I was thinking I'll do it in the night tonight. He's going to expect us to act, but I don't think he'll expect that my magic is strong enough for this."

"So we'll take him by surprise," Charming said.

"Right," Emma nodded.

"Who is going to take watch?" Snow said. "It can't just be the three of us."

"The dwarves said they're in," Emma said. "Ruby's on board to track Hook's scent. She can let us know where he is and when he moves."

"I thought the whole point of this was that it was our fight," Snow said. "I thought we didn't want to get anyone involved."

"They volunteered," Emma offered weakly.

"We can't do this on our own," Charming said. "And the dwarves and Ruby are family. Snow, they were with us when we defeated King George. Of course they'll want to be here to defeat this evil, too."

"What about Henry?" Snow asked.

"He's going to stay with Regina for a few days," Emma said. "At least until this is all resolved."

Charming clapped his hands to break the silence. "So, let's get started."

"Right," Emma said. "Mary Margaret, round up the dwarves and go over the plan with them. Set up stations for guard. David, you're coming with me. Regina is going to teach me the spell and we need someone to stand guard."

"Cool, let's go," Charming said. He followed Emma out the door and made conversation as they walked to the car. "She told you the Lancelot story, didn't she?"

"What?" Emma said.

Charming made a face. "I know about it. She doesn't think I know, but I do. Anyway, as a father who didn't know he had a daughter for a long time, I can kind of see where Neal is coming from. And when I was growing up, I didn't know who my real father was. I found out and I was angry. But I got over it because my mom still treated me like she always did. I knew that I was still her son, no matter how angry or hurt I was. Henry will get that."

"Thanks," Emma said.

They were in the car and headed towards Regina's when Emma got a phone call.

"Ruby," she said. "What's going on?"

"Hook is on the move," Ruby replied. "It looks like he's going to Gold's shop."

"David, call Mary Margaret, tell her to meet us at Gold's shop, Hook is there," Emma said as she turned the car around so that she was headed toward the shop. She spoke into the phone again. "Thanks, Ruby. Keep us posted."

"Will do," Ruby asked. "And I've been keeping an eye on Henry, he's fine. The diner is safe, I'll try to keep him here as long as possible. He can stay the night at Granny's if that's safest."

"Thank you," Emma said gratefully.

"Anytime," Ruby said. "Go catch that pirate."

"Will do," Emma said. She hung up the phone and looked at Charming. "I hope you brought your sword. We're in for a fight."

**The end of this chapter. I hope y'all liked it! Please leave a review!**


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